Chapter 78: Chapter 77 - The Ice Queen Arrives

Kuro found Monday mornings to be peaceful.

At least, for the first little while. As soon as he stepped into the classroom, Akari was already on top of her desk yelling at everyone like she was about to declare war - "Shut up Peasants!" Of course no one was paying any attention.

Aoi was still calmly reading, Mina was quietly watching outside, and Rika was busy doodling in her sketchbook as if Akari didn’t even exist.

"Dramatic point," said Akari, "your disrespect has truly wounded me."

"You say that every morning," replied Kuro.

"And it’s still true every morning."

Aoi sighed.

"Can you please sit down before you fall?" asked Kuro.

"I refuse," Akari said defiantly. Three seconds later Akari had fallen off the desk.

Luckily for Akari, Kuro had anticipated her fall and waited to catch her by the arm as she tumbled toward the floor.

"Traitor," she muttered.

"I just saved your life," Kuro replied.

"Exactly!" she said, still huffing and puffing.

Fortunately, their conversation was cut short when the classroom door was opened and a young woman stepped inside the Happy Room.

Immediately the entire atmosphere changed all conversations ceased ,all students straightened up ,even the drama queen, Akari, became quiet.

The young woman had long purple hair that flowed neatly down her back and strikingly violet-coloured eyes that were hidden behind a pair of elegant eyeglasses.

She had on a fitted black suit that gave the impression that the woman meant business, and her posture was so perfect that you would think someone had placed a steel rod down her back.

The most noticeable thing to Kuro, however, was the woman’s cold and intimidating expression.

The entire class stopped talking.

She walked with precise steps to the front.

Her every movement was exact.

Under control.

Perfectly done.

Then she turned to all of us.

"I am Minami Asakura."

Her voice was calm and collected.

"I will be your substitute teacher of homeroom from today."

No one spoke.

No one dared.

Minami adjusted her glasses.

"I expect everyone in this class to act properly and be on time and focus on their studies."

Minami’s eyes moved across the class.

Several students sat up straighter.

Akari even looked a little apprehensive.

Kuro raised an eyebrow.

Impressive.

In less than thirty seconds, the woman had taken full control of all fifty kids in the room.

Then disaster struck.

As she reached for a pile of paper on the podium, the tip of her sleeve got caught on the corner of the podium.

The pile of paper exploded.

Hundreds of pieces of paper scattered all over the room.

Some fell on students.

Some fell directly on Kuro’s face.

The entire class came to a standstill.

Minami was frozen.

For exactly one second.

Then she slowly adjusted her glasses as if nothing happened.

"Please turn to page twelve of your book."

No one moved.

The pages were still all over the room.

She kept talking as if nothing happened.

The students looked at each other, confused.

Kuro stared.

Did she just pretend she didn’t drop that pile of paper?

Meanwhile, the tips of Minami’s ears turned slowly red.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

A short while later, Kuro finally got up to begin cleaning off the desk.

Aoi followed him.

Then, Mina did too.

Eventually, the rest of the class joined in as well.

Only when everything had been cleaned up did Minami quietly clear her throat.

"...Thank you", was her reluctant expression of thanks.

That sounded as if she was being physically harmed to say those words.

Then, they continued on with class.

By lunchtime, the tales about the new teacher had already been created.

"That new teacher seems scary."

"She is very pretty."

"I thought she was going to kick me out just from her look."

"She looks like a final boss from an anime."

Typical reactions for students.

Meanwhile, Kuro was at his normal table for lunch.

Unfortunately, his normal company was all there.

Akari sat down right next to him.

Way too close for his comfort.

Aoi sat across from him.

A couple seconds later, Mina sat down.

Then, Rika came in carrying her sketchbook.

This looked suspicious to outside sources.

For Kuro though, this was just another ordinary day.

Akari swiped some food from Kuro’s lunch.

"Now, this is mine."

"You already have food."

"This one tastes better."

"That’s because it’s mine."

Aoi sat a drink next to him.

"You left this."

"Thank you."

Mina smiled shyly at him.

Rika showed him a manga panel she was working on.

Completely normal.

Completely ordinary.

At least to them.

Not from the perspective of the woman lurking in the hall at the corridor window.

Minami Asakura was watching.

Watching.

Watching.

Judging.

She narrowed her eyes.

The blonde held on to him too tightly.

The pink haired girl was always watching him.

The blue haired girl was always fidgeting while around him.

The artist girl wanted him to notice her work.

Minami adjusted her glasses.

Suspicions arose again.

With enough experience as an educator, she could spot trouble coming.

This was the epicenter of the romantic battlefield.

She focused in on Kuro.

For some reason, he looks calm, as if to throw her off his true being.

The second occurrence took place after lunch.

Kuro was sent to deliver attendance to the staffroom.

Very simple.

However, this is where fate intervened.

After Kuro makes a turn at the corner, he heard an explosion.

Then silence.

The kind of silence that is dangerous.

So, Kuro followed the sound.

And stopped.

Minami Asakura stood in the middle of a corridor filled with chaos.

A cart on the floor.

Folders scattered everywhere.

Papers and files everywhere.

A broken chalkbox.

The destruction was quite impressive.

For about three seconds, neither one moved.

Then Minami focused in on him.

Their eyes locked.

"...do not tell anyone what you saw."

Kuro scanned the hallway for evidence.

Evidence that was everywhere.

"That is difficult."

"Nothing happened."

"The hallway disagrees."

Minami adjusted her glasses.

Her expression was cold.

Her reddening ears were her only visible indication of embarrassment.

"Let me ask for your help with this."

There was a long pause between questions and responses.

"Please."

Progress.

Kuro bent down and began gathering paper.

"Is this a common occurrence?"

"No."

A folder fell from Minami’s hands.

"Rarely."

Another stack fell.

"Occasionally."

Kuro said nothing at all.

Minami was on the verge of quitting society.

Minami continued to observe Kuro throughout the day.

Not intentionally.

At least that’s what she told herself.

But somehow, Kuro kept catching her eye. He had helped another student understand his assignment.

Kuro returned a stolen notebook.

Kuro also helped out another teacher by carrying their supplies.

He was nice.

He was responsible.

He was helpful.

This only confused things further because every time Minami looked at Kuro...

There would be a girl standing right next to him.

Especially one of the Tachibana Girls.

After school, she saw yet another incident.

Kuro was standing by the school entrance waiting.

Aoi came up to him first.

The silver-haired girl stood next to him.

Then Akari came up.

Without warning, both her arms went around Kuro’s shoulders.

"Let’s go home!"

Kuro sighed at her.

"You can walk yourself."

"I can’t."

"You’re able to walk."

"That doesn’t matter."

Aoi rolled her eyes at them.

Their interaction seemed to be so natural.

Comfortable.

Intimate.

Way too intimate.

Minami was shocked.

There was no hesitation or embarrassment.

No boundaries.

Neither girl seemed concerned about hiding this.

It was becoming more suspicious by the minute.

Then Mina came over.

And then Rika joined as well.

Now there were now four girls surrounding Kuro.

Minami was watching.

Her teacher’s instinct kicked in.

This cannot be normal.

There is no way this is normal.

The longer she watched, the more convinced she was that Kuro Kurogane was a danger.

Maybe not on purpose.

But he had somehow become the main character of an extremely intricate web of female relationships.

They were certainly involved in enough drama.

They were certainly able to create enough chaos that they were the reason teachers had to see a doctor for a headache.

In addition, they caused more than one emergency parent-teacher conference.

Minami pushed up her glasses again.

A serious expression crossed her face because she was a teacher, and could not let this go unnoticed.

Someone must monitor this situation.

With care.

In a professional manner.

For educational purposes.

And not at all out of curiosity.

At that same time, Kuro felt a very unsettling chill race down his spine. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Kuro looked around the room, but there was no reason for it.

No person was there.

It was just an unsettling feeling.

While Minami Asakura was silent, she was also very much aware that she just decided something about a student.

Student: Kuro Kurogane

Status: Highly Suspect

Action Required: Observing

And thus, the beginning of a very overwhelming dynamic (teacher/student relationship) developed between the very cold teacher and the very misunderstood student.