Bathed in the gentle glow of the midday sun, a quiet trio stood together.
Hoshino Ren, Hayasaka Ai, and Hiratsuka Shizuka.
Triple H, hehe.
After hearing the words spoken by the person standing before her, Hiratsuka Shizuka took a moment to process them, slowly regaining her composure.
"Right! Hello, my name is Hiratsuka Shizuka. From today until the end of the year, I will be your homeroom teacher..." Still slightly shaken by the striking appearance of her new transfer student, Hiratsuka Shizuka shifted her gaze to the second person standing beside Hoshino Ren.
Feeling her teacher's gaze settle on her, Ai offered a slight smile and greeted her in a composed tone.
"Good morning, Sensei. I hope you'll take good care of us."
"Nice to see you again, Hayasaka. Why did you two arrive together? Distant relatives?" Hiratsuka Shizuka couldn't help but ask. It wasn't often she saw two students with different surnames arrive at school together in the same car.
In response to the question, Hoshino Ren spoke up.
"Not yet, Sensei. The Hayasaka family is employed by the Hoshino family." He cast a subtle glance at Ai standing beside him.
Ignoring the first part of his response, Hiratsuka Shizuka nodded, the connection now clear.
"Well, let's not waste any more time. Let's head to my office to complete your registration."
As Hiratsuka Shizuka began walking, she turned to Ai once more.
"Hayasaka, we'll finish this and join the class shortly. You can head to your classroom."
"...Y-yes? Yes! Sensei!!!"
Still quite shaken by Ren's previous sudden words, response came out of Ai's mouth, as she quickened her pace, she entered the school.
Back to now two people, Ren smirked and turned towards his new smoking hot teacher.
"Let's go, Sensei."
As the duo entered school building, Ren swiftly came to his designated shoe locker, quickly changed his footwear to one he brought with him, closing the small locker he went in the direction where Shizuka was now waiting for him.
---
On the third floor of Kuyogasaki High, right next to the main staircase, was the largest room—more accurately described as the teachers' office.
This space, often a haven for overworked teachers who were nearly always preparing new materials for their students or grading papers, was significantly larger than any other classroom.
Being early morning, on the first day back, almost all teachers were heading to their classes that they were responsible for, for that reason currenctly teacher office now was empty.
shhh-clunk
Sounds of people entering
shhh-clunk
Two people entered the teachers' office.
As Ren turned and glanced around the office space, he quickly noticed Hiratsuka Shizuka practically skip-sprinting to her corner desk.
Swiftly opening the window beside her chair, she sat down, opened her desk drawer, and retrieved her lighter for the cigarette she'd been eager to light all morning.
haaah
Finally exhaling a plume of cigarette smoke, Hiratsuka Shizuka turned her attention to her annoyingly attractive new student.
Noticing her sizing him up, Ren shook his head and reached into his bag to hand over his last-minute enrollment documents.
Looking at Shizuka's delicate face, Ren decided to do something that might score him some points in her book.
"Sensei, while some might say smoking looks cool on men, I personally don't think the same applies to women. Or maybe they just don't care about getting married."
As Hiratsuka Shizuka took the documents from Ren's hand and began sorting them, his words made her freeze.
Her chest rose and fell, a slight jiggle visible beneath her lab coat, as a lingering wisp of cigarette smoke curled from her nostrils like a bull's forceful exhale.
"Souka, souka! First day at school, and you're already tossing out spicy remarks, huh?"
Whoosh!
Hiratsuka Shizuka sprang to her feet, giving Ren one last appraising look, her eyes glinting with a calculating edge.
'Pretty athletic build… bet he can handle a punch or two.'
With that thought, she chomped down on the stub of her nearly smoked cigarette, shooting Ren a death glare.
Sidestepping closer, she pulled back her fist and launched a swift jab at his stomach.
Anticipating her all-too-familiar move, a faint red hue glinted in Ren's eyes. He took a half-step back, raised his left hand sideways to redirect her incoming attack, and, with his now-free right hand, reached toward Shizuka's face and snatched her cigarette.
To any untrained observer, Ren's lightning-fast reflexes might as well have earned him the name Barry Allen. But to Shizuka, with her seasoned experience in hand-to-hand combat, his movements were eerily reminiscent of her old master's.
"Tsk, not only snarky but also quite experienced."
Tossing out a Shizuka-style compliment, she instinctively reached to inhale the cigarette that had been between her lips moments ago.
"Haha, thanks, Sensei. I had some training early in life," Ren said with a smile, extending his right hand to flick the cigarette butt into the trash bin by Shizuka's desk.
Watching her now-annoyingly-charming student perform another casual, lightning-fast action, Shizuka's flare in her eyes fizzled out.
With a sigh, she started walking out of the teachers' office.
Sigh.
"Okay, let's not waste any more time on these games. Class is about to start."
"Yes, Sensei."
Ren smiled and followed right behind her.
---
In the nearly deserted hallway on the third floor of Kuyogasaki High, near the classroom of 3-A, Hiratsuka Shizuka and Hoshino Ren now stood.
"Wait here for me. I need to get the students' attention and address a few things first. Come in when I call your name," Hiratsuka Shizuka said, grabbing the door handle and glancing at Ren.
"I will, I will, Sensei-chan!" Ren replied, his eyes blatantly fixed on Shizuka's chest, a sly grin spreading as he enjoyed the view of her slightly jiggling curves.
"W-Wha… Just you wait!" Shizuka stammered, her face flushing as she hurriedly slipped into the classroom.
Now alone, Ren took a moment to absorb the sheer scale of his new school. Gazing out the window, he marveled at the sprawling green yard below.
Noticing a head peeking around the hallway corner, Ren flashed a smile.
"Come on, Hiratsuka-sensei just went in. Don't be late."
Emerging from behind the corner, a girl froze, visibly startled that Ren had noticed her. As she approached, Ren marveled at her ordinary yet captivating charm—a subtle allure that could spark Reddit wars in his past life.
"Nice to meet you, my name's Hoshino Ren," he said, smiling at the girl with bob-cut chestnut hair and a red hair clip framing her calm, unassuming face.