"What a coincidence, Hikigaya and I are both in Class 3-B."
"Yes, I'm fortunate to be in the same class as Kato-san."
As the two walked towards the Class 3-B classroom, Hikigaya sighed with emotion, yet his face wore a look of utter despair.
"Please take care of me from now on, Hikigaya."
"Ah, uhm, please take care of me too."
Hikigaya sighed inwardly. After entering the school gate, he had been continuously praying that he wouldn't be in the same class as Kato-san, but unfortunately, things didn't go as he wished, and the two of them actually ended up in the same class.
What kind of luck do I have?
To make me spend an entire third year of high school with a monster like Kato-san?
Yukinoshita, help me, I need your assistance! Although it's a lot to ask, can you somehow manage to get Kato-san transferred to another class?
My intuition tells me this woman is quite dangerous!
After a brief understanding, Hikigaya had already come to regard Kato Megumi as a terrifying Dragon-level monster.
Oh, by the way, Haruno was also a Dragon-level monster in Hikigaya's mind, which shows how highly he regarded Kato-san.
The two quickly arrived at Class 3-B.
Fortunately, the back door of the classroom was open, so Hikigaya and Kato-san cautiously walked in. Since it was the beginning of the school year and a new class assignment, there were no fixed seats, so they simply found a place to sit down.
Hikigaya specifically chose a seat far away from Kato-san.
After settling down, Hikigaya slumped onto his desk, his eyes stealthily glancing at his classmates after the class reassignment.
Most of them were unfamiliar faces.
Familiar people like Yuihama, Hayama, and Totsuka were not there.
The only person he seemed to recognize was… Miura's mom?
Oh, oh, I almost forgot, Kawasaki was also sitting over there.
Huh, Kawasaki seems to be secretly looking at me?
Uh, it must be my imagination.
Life's illusion, she's looking at me!
Hikigaya stopped peeking at the students in the classroom. He now had a general understanding that this class reassignment seemed quite good; he barely knew anyone. If it weren't for Kato-san's appearance, he could even give this newly assigned class a pretty high score.
Hikigaya instinctively preferred not to have anyone who knew him, as this way, he could be a good invisible man, quietly studying without being disturbed by others.
Well, the reason Hikigaya wanted to study hard and not slack off was, on one hand, that this semester was his third year of high school, and he had to take university entrance exams. Secondly, Yukinoshita hoped they could get into the same university to avoid a long-distance relationship in the future.
Of course, besides the two reasons above, there was actually a most fundamental and important reason forcing Hikigaya's grades to improve.
That was to defeat the ultimate Archdemon Hikigaya currently faced, a being far surpassing the current Dragon-level monsters like Kato-san and Haruno, a God-level monster—Yukinoshita's mother.
That's right.
That smiling, outwardly kind elder was Hikigaya's true super nemesis at the moment.
During their last meeting at the hotel, Hikigaya clearly felt that she wanted to control him, hoping he would become a male slave of the Yukinoshita Family.
"Hmm, sounds great, right?"
"But... Hikigaya Hachiman has his pride!"
"As the only male heir of the Hikigaya family, I don't care about anything else, but I at least need to have one child bear the Hikigaya name in the future. Otherwise, I won't be able to explain it to my old-fashioned parents!"
Of course, Hikigaya understood that even if he and Yukinoshita got into the same university, it might still be difficult to change Yukinoshita's mother's mind. However, this could at least prove to Yukinoshita's mother that he and Yukinoshita were equals, and not that he was inferior.
In any case, good grades were definitely necessary.
Hikigaya thought silently, while outside the classroom, the bell for class rang leisurely.
Hikigaya's thoughts were pulled back by the bell.
"Huh, am I going to see the homeroom teacher now?"
"Sigh... I really hope Teacher Hiratsuka is still the homeroom teacher."
Unfortunately, Teacher Hiratsuka still left.
"But this is also good. If Teacher Hiratsuka continued to be my homeroom teacher, I would truly be afraid of making some mistake that would be unfair to Yukinoshita."
While he was sighing inwardly, a pink-haired woman with a cold gaze, dressed in a dark business suit and a dark, form-fitting skirt, walked into Class 3-B's classroom, holding a teaching lesson plan.
The moment the young teacher stepped into the classroom, the already lively class erupted in an even greater commotion among the students.
Business suit, form-fitting skirt.
"Oh, and black stockings?!"
"Good heavens!"
"It's practically dancing on the XP of countless old otaku!"
Hikigaya blinked and discreetly observed her for a few moments.
Not only her attire, but from her delicate face and her curvaceous figure, his new homeroom teacher could definitely be called an exceptionally stunning beauty of a teacher.
Even Hikigaya couldn't help but take a few extra glances, let alone the students present. Some bold students even asked the young teacher if she had a boyfriend.
However, the laughter didn't last long.
As the pink-haired woman swept her gaze, filled with a deathly stare, across the entire class, the boisterous atmosphere around them seemed to be suppressed by a top predator. In an instant, the previously noisy classroom suddenly fell silent.
A heavy sense of oppression suddenly enveloped the entire classroom.
The cold gaze from the pink-haired woman... made one feel that she was about to go on a killing spree!
At this moment, the students in the classroom, regardless of gender, who had originally been marveling at the female teacher, felt a cold sweat break out on their backs after experiencing that deathly stare. Those with weaker psychological fortitude were so scared they dared not look up.
"Tch!"
"How could she actually kill someone!"
"A bunch of cowards... Huh?!"
Hikigaya was grumbling inwardly when he suddenly noticed the young teacher staring intently at him, like a hunter locking onto its prey, about to launch a cruel attack.
"!"
A danger alarm blared loudly. Hikigaya, caught by that stare, immediately felt his hair stand on end. He, who had been sprawled on his desk like a dried fish, no longer dared to be lax. He immediately sat up straight, not daring to even breathe, until the young teacher retracted her gaze, only then did he dare to take a few breaths.
"That was close, that was close!"
"I almost suffocated just now!"
"This pink-haired woman couldn't have really 'killed' someone, could she?"
While Hikigaya was still feeling lingering fear, the young, pink-haired teacher walked to the podium, then picked up a piece of chalk and wrote her name on the blackboard, introducing herself.
"My name is Kirisu Mafuyu. Starting today, I will be your World History teacher for Class 3-B, as well as your homeroom teacher. If you have any questions about your studies or other school-related problems, you can bring them to me."
As she spoke, Teacher Kirisu once again expressionlessly swept her gaze across the entire class. Everyone was startled again by those 'killing' eyes and quickly shouted, "Yes!"
"Sigh, first Kato, and now Teacher Kirisu. Why are they all such terrifying women?"
"Yukinoshita, I..." Just as Hikigaya was lamenting, his phone, placed under his desk, suddenly vibrated.
"Hmm?"
Hikigaya hesitated for a few seconds, then, taking advantage of Teacher Kirisu not paying attention to his side while she was speaking, he secretly glanced at the fresh, hot text message on his phone screen.
"Huh?"
"It's from Yukinoshita?"
"Wait, Yukinoshita, you didn't get some kind of cheat, did you?"
"You actually knew to save me?"
Hikigaya was surprised inwardly and secretly opened the message to check its contents.
"Yukinoshita: Hikigaya-kun, who was that female student you walked to school with this morning? I saw you two chatting quite happily at the school gate. You're not thinking of cheating, are you?"
"Eh?"
"What's with this interrogative tone?"
"Kato?"
"...Cheating?"
"What a joke!"
"How could Kato and I have that kind of relationship?!"
"It's only our first day meeting!"