“Thank you for walking me to class. Kent, good luck with your afternoon classes.”
“Yeah, Gordon. See you.”
Kent ended up escorting Gordon to his classroom. The classroom was on the third floor, while Kent’s was on the second floor below. It was a roundabout way to go up to the third floor and then back down to the second, but Kent was worried about Gordon, who had fainted a little while ago. There wasn’t much time before the afternoon classes started, but he thought he could attend his own classes with peace of mind after ensuring Gordon safely entered his classroom.
“Well, I don’t have much time, so I should hurry to my classroom.”
Kent headed towards his classroom, picking up his pace a little.
“Kya!”
“Whoa!”
However, in his haste, Kent wasn’t looking where he was going and bumped into something soft as he came down to the second floor.
Thump.
“Ah, sorry.”
Kent quickly realized he had bumped into someone. He hastily apologized to the person who had fallen on their behind.
“You’re not supposed to run in the hallways. Oh my, isn’t that Kent? You seemed to have come down from the third floor, did you make a mistake in your classroom?”
“It’s not like that. Gordon was feeling a bit unwell, so I walked him to his classroom.”
“I see. Kent, you’re kind to everyone, regardless of gender.”
It was Tia who had fallen. This was an accident caused by Kent’s haste, and she was not at fault at all. As a teacher, it was natural for her to caution a student who was running.
“By the way, Teacher Tia.”
“Yes?”
“You’re wearing pink today.”
“Eh? Ah!”
Tia’s legs were spread wide as she sat on the floor, and Kent could clearly see what was under her skirt. A cute pink cloth was clearly visible in Kent’s line of sight.
“Even if you could see it, it’s not admirable to say such things directly to a woman.”
“I’m sorry. Ah, that’s right. Teacher, are you hurt? Here, take my hand.”
“Ah, thank you. I just hit my bottom a bit, I’m fine.”
Kent offered his hand to help Tia up. She took Kent’s hand with a slight blush on her face.
“Heave-ho. Ah, I accidentally made a sound.”
Tia unconsciously let out a sound as she mustered her strength to stand up. Realizing this, she looked a little embarrassed.
“Ahem, the next class is mine, so tardiness will not be tolerated. Now, now, let’s go to the classroom.”
Tia, now standing, urged Kent towards the classroom to cover her embarrassment.
“Yes, yes! Let’s begin the afternoon classes.”
“…”
The bell for the afternoon classes to begin rang, and at that moment, Tia entered the classroom. The classroom erupted in a buzz.
“Usually, everyone gets quiet once class starts, what’s going on?”
Normally, the classroom would fall silent when the teacher in charge entered, but this time it became noisy the moment Tia entered, surprising her.
Stare.
“Hm? Hyaaaah!”
Tia noticed that all the students in the classroom were staring at one point. She looked towards where their gaze was concentrated and let out a loud shriek.
“Th-this is, um, ahhh…”
Tia had been holding Kent’s hand since he helped her up. She had entered the classroom while still holding his hand, which was why the commotion was happening. Her face was flushed with shame, and she was in complete panic.
“Everyone, please be quiet. It’s normal to hold hands sometimes. Class time has already started.”
“…”
Seeing Tia unable to speak due to embarrassment, Josette let out a loud voice, instantly silencing the buzzing classmates. The method was forceful, but it was effective.
“If Josette doesn’t mind…”
“If it were me, I couldn’t be this calm if my boyfriend was holding another girl’s hand.”
Although some hushed whispers could be heard, everyone in the class knew that Kent and Josette had a good relationship, so if Josette herself said it, they had no choice but to accept it.
“Thank you, Josette. You saved me. Kent, you better get to your seat quickly. Let’s start the class.”
Tia snapped back to reality at Josette’s voice, released Kent’s hand, and decided to start the class.
“Kent, you seem dependable, but you do mess up sometimes. That’s one of Kent’s charms, though.”
As Kent took his seat, Patty, who was in the next seat, teased him.
Despite a minor incident, Tia’s class ended without further issue, and after attending their other classes, after-school hours arrived.
“Kent-saaan. Let’s go home together!”
“Don’t just hug me out of nowhere. Your class ended earlier than mine, huh?”
“It ended unusually early, so I hurried over here!”
As homeroom ended, Rachel entered the classroom right as their homeroom teacher, Tia, was leaving. She immediately went to Kent and hugged him.
“You two really are close. My siblings are quite a bit older, so even if we’re close, we can’t do something like this at school. I’m a little envious.”
“Hehe, you’re envious?”
Patty, sitting in the next seat, spoke up as she watched Kent and Rachel.
“Rachel, aren’t you usually with Caro?”
“Ah, Josette. Caro’s homeroom hasn’t finished yet, so I wanted to surprise my older brother— I mean, Kent— and came here first.”
“Oh, oh, is that so?”
Josette arrived and spoke to Rachel.
“Well then, shall we stop by Caro’s classroom before heading to the shop?”
“Agreed! ♪”
“That sounds good.”
“Let’s do that.”
Normally, Rachel and Caro would meet up first and then act with Kent and the others. However, this time the order was reversed, so they decided to head to Caro’s classroom together.
“It’s Josette-sama. Ah, and Patty-sama is with you.”
“You’re both so beautiful.”
Upon arriving at Caro’s classroom, the students there began to buzz. Josette, being the daughter of a Duke and exceptionally beautiful, was quite a prominent figure at the academy. Additionally, Patty had become famous overnight for capturing the heart of the 2nd Prince. With both of them appearing in the classroom together, such a reaction was natural.
“Onii-chan, I feel like we’re like pickled daikon or fukujinzuke next to them.”
“Hmm, it can’t be helped since you’re both celebrities.”
“I’m supposed to be the protagonist, you know. If you don’t dote on me, I’ll get sulky.”
“There, there, calm down. How about this?”
“I’m not a horse.”
As people began to gather around Josette and Patty, Kent and Rachel, standing alone and left out, were having a conversation.
“Everyone is here today. I’m sorry for causing such a commotion.”
“Ah, Caro. Good work.”
“Caro, you too.”
Caro arrived and spoke to Kent and Rachel.
“Kent, Rachel, good work. It looks like we’ll have to wait a little to go home at this rate. But I’m so happy you came to my classroom, Kent.”
Saying this, Caro took Kent’s hand.
“Caro-san.”
“Kent-san.”
“Ugh! I’m here too, so don’t get lost in your own world!”
Kent and Caro were gazing at each other, holding hands. Rachel, feeling left out, protested to them.
