"Haah~"

"Rinji, are you that sleepy?"

"Not really. Probably just lingering effects from the last incident."

"What incident?"

"Nothing."

He was referring to the fight he'd had with his younger father during winter break.

Rinji had been the type who could go days without sleep, but ever since that fight, he felt physically weakened. His body wasn't worse off, but his mental state was clearly not the same.

As first-year discipline committee members, Iino and Rinji had just finished patrol when they returned to class. lino could tell his energy was off.

Normally, even if he didn't listen in class, he would at least openly play on his phone. But now, like in first period, he just dropped his head and slept.

It was the same in second period—he lay down and slept through it.

The teacher seemed used to it, deliberately ignoring him and continuing the lesson.

"You're the discipline committee and the student council treasurer. If you keep being inattentive in class, it sets a terrible example and hurts the student council's reputation."

"The student council's face is the president and Shinomiya. Has nothing to do with me," Rinji replied. "Besides, I'll be leaving the student council soon anyway."

"Huh?"

Iino turned to him in surprise, thinking she misheard.

Though Rinji always did things his own way at school, when it came to the council, he was serious. She couldn't imagine him quitting.

"What do you mean? Why suddenly…"

"The president's moving up to third year soon. Then he'll have to focus on exams and give up council work. Once he leaves, I've got no reason to stay either."

"Oh, so that's what you meant. You scared me."

Iino let out a small sigh of relief.

"Rinji, don't you recognize anyone else as being able to lead the student council?"

"More or less. So I won't stay."

"I see…"

"But if you became president, Miko, I could stick around."

"Eh?"

Her cheeks turned pink at his words. She secretly glanced at Rinji's profile.

"Why… only if I'm president would you stay?"

"Because you're excellent too. If you became president, I'd at least have motivation to work." Rinji spoke casually.

But his words made Iino blush even more.

She lowered her head, whispered a quiet "thank you," and smiled faintly with happiness.

Rinji didn't notice, just yawned again.

He planned to sleep through third period as well.

---

"Hey… Rinji, you're not planning to sleep through the whole morning, are you?"

Ishigami looked helplessly at Rinji, who was once again slumped on his desk like a corpse.

"You didn't sleep well last night? You weren't up gaming."

"How do you know I wasn't gaming?"

"Your profile icon was gray."

"Oh…"

"If you weren't gaming, then why are you so drained… Don't tell me last night you and your girlfriend…"

"Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not planning to do those things before marriage."

"Surprisingly conservative… Then why'd you suddenly become like this?"

"Ishigami, do you know?"

Lying face-down on the desk, Rinji turned his head with difficulty, a trace of exhaustion in his eyes.

"Humans have limits."

"So what? Rinji, you don't plan on being human anymore?"

"What I mean is, I too have moments where I reach my limit. This fatigue right now is proof that I'm human."

"Huh?"

"Truly worthy of celebration."

"No no no, I don't see how that's worth celebrating at all."

"Anyway, let me rest a while first. Wake me up at noon."

"…Fine."

As the class bell rang, all the students returned to their seats.

This period was math class. According to the news they'd heard earlier, this class's math teacher had also changed. For more chapters visit noveⅼfire.net

Carrying a bag, Mei walked into the classroom. Her entrance made all the students' eyes widen.

Her features were almost identical to Misaki's, a beautiful face with an eyepatch over one eye.

Compared to Misaki's liveliness, Mei gave off a mysterious air, like a woman detached from the mundane world.

She wrote her name on the board, then turned to the students. With a voice calm yet ethereal, she said, "I'm your new math teacher, Misaki Mei."

After the brief introduction, she pulled a textbook from her travel bag and turned back. "Please turn to page thirty-five. Today we'll review last semester's material…"

She was beautiful, but her aura radiated an untouchable coldness. The type of strict teacher students feared most, so everyone listened attentively.

Speaking in her even tone while writing formulas on the board, Mei set down the chalk and turned. Just then she spotted Rinji sleeping soundly on his desk.

Seeing that familiar yet distant figure, Mei's hand holding the book trembled.

Her thoughts drifted back twenty years.

Back then she was still a middle schooler, sitting alone at the window seat in the last row.

At that time, Rinji was wearing the uniform of Yomiyama North Middle School, lying across his desk exactly as he was now.

Now, twenty years later, the two figures overlapped.

The students, taking notes from the formulas on the board, looked up at Mei in surprise. The stern new teacher's lips were curved in a smile.

Following her gaze, some noticed she was looking at the sleeping Rinji.

Ishigami, startled, quickly moved to wake him up.

But before he could act, Mei raised her hand, signaling him not to.

She walked to the podium, pulled a blanket from her travel bag, and stepped down to Rinji's side.

Looking down at that familiar sleeping face, Mei's smile softened with warmth.

She gently draped the blanket over his shoulders, patted his hair, then returned to the podium with her book.

Her expression cooled again to its usual sternness.

"Let's continue. Next we'll cover…"