Stealing Spree

While I gave my suggestion, Eguchi-sensei fell into deep contemplation.

Orimura-sensei, on the other hand, gulped down the carbonated drink she picked. No matter how unruly she was, she wouldn't drink alcoholic drinks when it's still school hours.

That's one way to be fired immediately.

In any case, I didn't need to open my mouth anymore. Instead of staring awkwardly at the two PE teachers, I opened the bottle of water and drank it while waiting for Eguchi-sensei.

It's only a few minutes before the fifth period. Most likely, the class was already making their way to the changing rooms and were talking about what kind of activity these two would put them through.

The same as last week, the PE Class for today will be a joint class for Year 1 Class 1 to 4.

Although last Friday Eguchi-sensei managed to lower the intensity of her class, the activity last Tuesday was surely something remarkable for the others.

The unique way of playing Capture the Flag, even if it was exhausting for the few representatives of each class, the spectators loved it.

"Alright. For today's PE, let it be free time. You're all free to do what you want as long as no one will slack off."

Free time but no slacking off, huh? Did I just make it worse for them?

Haa… What's wrong with this teacher's head? According to Satsuki, she's somewhat normal when coaching the Basketball Club. True, their training was intensive but she's putting in allowances to not push every member to exhaustion.

Why can't she do that for her class? She's known to give collective punishment, could it be that it's hard for her to coach or teach a crowd of 30 students?

"You airheaded woman. Free time but no slacking off? How is that free time, huh?" Orimura-sensei put a hand on her forehead as she grabbed Eguchi-sensei's shoulder. "Ryoko. Look at Onoda's expression. Do you think what you said makes sense?"

"Huh? What's wrong with it?"

Whether she's clueless or not by asking that question, I guess I needed to step up again.

"Sensei, can I say something?" I put the bottle down and raised my hand, taking both of their attention back to me.

"Go ahead, Onoda-kun." Instead of Eguchi-sensei, Orimura-sensei answered me.

Well, she's still lost in her thoughts after all. Truly different to the first impression she gave me.

Either way, there's no point waiting for her to gather her wits.

I stood up from where I was sitting and closed the distance between us slightly.

It's a show of respect. Rather than talking to them from a distance, this is much better.

"Because I know someone from the Basketball Club, I'm aware that Eguchi-sensei is the coach of the girl's Basketball Club. May I ask how you train the club members? Specifically, the freshmen who just joined the club or those who are not really athletic but interested enough to join?"

Upon hearing my question, Orimura-sensei nodded her head before crossing her arms, giving the vibe of someone understanding the situation.

"I see. I think I understand what you're trying to say Onoda-kun."

On the other hand, Eguchi-sensei clapped her face and blinked her eyes before putting on a serious face, the face she often wore when in front of the class.

"I'm giving them basic training exercises that they can finish like passing, dribbling or running from court to court."

"Then there's your answer, sensei. If you want to make a twist to a simple activity like you always do, just remember not to overdo it. For example, that dodgeball you customized for us…"

Mentioning that very first activity she had us play, their ears perked up as interest glimmered from their eyes. It's as if they're waiting for an expert on the field to give his judgement or advice.

I wonder how these two survived being PE teachers for years.

"If you limited the number of times one can go back inside the infield and allowed for baton passing, then it would've been a satisfying game for everyone."

Because there's no limit to how many times one can reenter the infield, the game dragged on to the point of exhausting everyone.

Nonetheless, I'm quite thankful for that day since I got the chance to know Rae.

As for Baton Passing, it should be for those exhausted to voluntarily retire from the game and pass their spot to someone else with no chance to reenter the infield after being hit by a ball.

"I understand. Thank you, Onoda-kun."

"Well, there's no need to, sensei. It's something you will realize soon anyway."

"Nope. That's where you're wrong. This teacher of yours might look scary on the surface but she's a natural airhead. Don't be deceived!"

You're also one, are you not?

As if I can respond like that. Airhead or not, she's doing a great job at the Basketball Club. Perhaps her weakness was really as I suspected. Who knows?

With my encounters with her and the time I've seen her act like this… I could only label her as 'interesting'.

In any case, my job is done here.

After clarifying the things that she will have us do for today and consulting me if that's fine, I left the room and went back to class.

-

-

A few hours later, the PE Class for today ended on a good note. Like I suggested, she just added a little twist on the basic exercises to build up the classes' stamina.

With Orimura-sensei helping Eguchi-sensei manage two classes, all four classes looked like they really had fun.

In actuality, it became a silent competition between the four classes.

After all, there's a bonus for the first class to finish the exercise set. That class was given the honor to have their next PE class for this week to be free time.

With that kind of motivation, our class, with the leadership of Nami and me, got the bonus.

Well, instead of Ogawa, Imada pushed for me to be the male leader and to support that, Fukuda and his group of delinquents along with Chii supported it. Matsuda, the Otaku Group leader, also urged the other Otakus like him.

Naturally, our group, including Sakuma, also agreed to that proposition.

And with that large a number, our other classmates who were known to follow the herd also joined in, making my becoming a leader official.

No matter what I do, there's really no turning back to an unremarkable student in this class.

Well, seeing Nami happily welcoming my election of being the leader by replacing Ogawa was enough to sweep my gloomy thoughts about being the now unobtainable status of Classmate A.

Because of how close we looked during the PE Class, I couldn't help but hear some of our classmates whispering about that rumor between us.

Well, we pretended not to hear it and just focused on being the first class to finish by assisting everyone.

Those who were against it like Ogawa and Tadano could only suck it up and begrudgingly accept my assistance to not ruin it for everyone.

Tadano seemed to have kept quiet about the slaps I gave him last night. He still looked like he's about to nab me but in the end, he couldn't meet my gaze and I suspect that he's now somewhat afraid of me.

On the other hand, Ogawa's glare at me and his somewhat undisguised hostility was naturally picked up by every guy in class. Fukuda even applied some salt to his wound by mentioning how Nami and Ogawa were somewhat distant these days. If not for me being in the middle, the chances of Ogawa standing up to give a straight punch at Fukuda was near 100%.

That guy was surely backing me up because he still wanted me to join their delinquent group.

I still haven't talked to him about Chii's request so when it became his turn, I whispered to him about it which made the guy drop his usual goofy delinquent attitude into a serious one.

However, he didn't answer me and just told me that everything's fine which obviously sounded like a lie.

Ah well, I still don't want to be involved with them so I'm just going to relay his answer to Chii when I got the time to be with her.

And lastly, there's also Sakuma who tried to make idle talk with me. In the end, I just reminded him to don't repeat his previous mistake with Satsuki.

If he's really so sure about Satsuki's sister, he should plan it well and don't delay his confession. Well, with how he stuttered to answer, I'd say he's still lacking in the courage department.

Nonetheless, at that moment, he looked like he already moved on from Satsuki or he's trying to… After all, it's not a secret to him anymore that Satsuki and I are already in an intimate relationship.

After announcing our class being the first one to finish with the prepared activity by Eguchi-sensei, the other three classes wore a bitter expression, envious of the bonus we got.

To ease them up, Eguchi-sensei followed up by telling them that this kind of competition would happen again in the future, reinvigorating their enthusiasm.

Upon seeing that, the strict teacher showed a rare smile which made the other students blink their eyes and slap their cheeks to check if they were sleeping or not.

When the class ended, the two PE teachers once again had me stay behind.

Well, this time, instead of asking me for what they did wrong, Eguchi-sensei was too happy she was even about to pull me in her embrace if not for realizing her current behavior.

Orimura-sensei behind her even coughed twice to sweep away the awkward tension that started to build up because of that.

"Well then, Onoda-kun. On behalf of Ryoko, err… Eguchi-sensei. Let us treat you to ramen."

"Right now?"

"No, of course not. On Friday. It's the first time this woman's class ended on a good note without any of the students complaining after all. Even if she's acting too awkwardly to say it, there's no doubt that you're the one who made it possible."

"I didn't do anything. Like I said before, even without me, sensei was bound to realize it." I waved my hand and acted humbly.

"Stop acting humble. No wonder Shiori-sensei is too fond of you. Tell me, are you the reason for her divorce?" With an inquiring smile, I suddenly felt a cold wind blowing to my back when I heard her last question.

This… What kind of question is this? Is she trying to probe me or is she trying to confirm her suspicions? No. There's no reason for her to suspect me… Our act was flawless after all.

Haa… well, let's see. It's not the first time I will be acting oblivious anyway.