I Was Possessed By An Unknown Manga

EP.23 The melancholy of a new teacher

An eventful weekend has passed, and Monday had come again.

When I opened the back door and entered the classroom 2-B, the window seat was empty.

The main character, Ryuji Sakamoto, didn’t seem to have come to school yet.

“Hello.”

When I put my bag on my seat properly, Satoru in the front seat talked to me.

“Did you hear that? There was a gangster duo who made a name for themselves in the first grade, and they suddenly transferred this morning.”

“In the first grade?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what it is, but they came home after a short weekend out, and they shut themselves up in their room and insisted that they wouldn’t go to school.”

I had a guess, but I listened to Satoru pretending not to know.

“Their parents suspected school violence and came to the teacher’s office in the morning to make a fuss, which made sense. They said that he eventually went home huffing and puffing.”

“There must be a reason. That’s why they can’t talk.”

“Right? If he’s always been bad, he’s got a lot of grudges.”

Satoru shrugged as he concluded so.

I opened the latest issue of Jump I bought at the convenience store this morning, thinking it didn’t matter.

***

The first class on Monday morning was life English.

It was a class conducted by Mizuki Nana, a teacher of our class, and it was popular because the class focuses on basic English conversation rather than focusing on grammar.

It was a very practical class considering that there are people who couldn’t speak properly when they meet foreigners even after learning English for more than 10 years in elementary, middle, and high school.

“Which of this and this is cheaper?”¹Texts in italics were originally in English.

She preached first with fluent pronunciation, and the students spoke afterwards.

“Left apples are $5 cheaper than right bananas”

In the middle of the class, I put a book in front of my head and shook Rika’s shoulder, which was sleeping soundly.

Then Rika jumped and raised her head.

“What’s going on? Ryu-chan?”

“The teacher just looked at you.”

Then Rika hurriedly wiped the saliva on her mouth, opened the page I told her, and began to imitate her exactly like a parrot.

Then the teacher’s gaze disappeared.

After reading one English text, Mizuki looked around the class.

“Then… Since today is the 24th, can the person sitting in the seat behind read the next text?”

Number 24 in our class was Momochi Satoru.

And the person behind was me.

“It’s me.”

I was embarrassed by the unexpected point, but I stood up from my seat with a textbook pretending to be resolute.

Rattle!

Then, the eyes naturally gathered.

Because I sat in the back of the class, some even turned slightly.

After turning the page, I started reading the English text.

“I’m James from England. I came to experience Japanese culture. Can you recommend a good place?”

Shortly afterwards, Ms. Mizuki asked me a surprise question.

“So, what’s the right answer for this?”

I paused for a moment, but I answered in my head with a combination of words.

“I personally recommend Osaka because it is a place that is visited by many foreigners and has abundant tourism resources such as Kyoto, Nara, and Kobe.”

Then, in the classroom, it suddenly became quiet.

A beat later, Ms. Mizuki said, clapping hastily.

“Good job! That’s a perfect answer!”

Then the classmates started to applaud together in response.

I lowered my head slightly and sat down again.

After that, Ms. Mizuki continued the class for about 10 more minutes, and ended the class at the same time as the bell rang during the break.

Well. Next was history.

I couldn’t believe that the first period and the second period with the homeroom teacher were side by side. I didn’t know who made it, but it was a class schedule that felt quite malicious.

***

Nanae Mizuki, a fresh new teacher, turning 24 years old this year.

As soon as she graduated from the local shift, she went to Tokyo with a big dream and immediately got a job in Ichiyo Academy.

The deviation was quite high, so it was a famous school in the province, and it was good to feel a strange nostalgia because it had only been six years since she graduated from high school.

“Nice to meet you! I’m Mizuki Nanae!”

She couldn’t forget the memory of the day when she greeted the existing teachers for the first time in the teacher’s office.

And for the first time as a schoolteacher, she felt burdened.

Of course, it meant something special to her, too.

Over the years, she may have gradually become accustomed to accepting new students and sending old students away, but at least now we were her only class.

However, until the beginning of the semester, Mizuki, a new teacher who was full of dreams and passion, faced one big challenge.

As a matter of fact,

One of the students was too scary.

***

Mizuki hated Monday.

It was only once a week in class, but when she entered the class, she would see the child who stands out.

‘Ichijyo, best guy at cram school’ Kim Yoo-sung.

He was so tall that she couldn’t believe he was a high school student, with his muscular body, and blunt face.

From the beginning, he was like a king born to rule the weak in the world.

As a teacher, you shouldn’t do that, you should treat all children equally, even if you go into the class repeatedly, and if your eyes meet, and those resolutions quickly disappears.

As for him, rumors of him being the heir of an assassination organization, fighting against the bikers in 50:1 or being a competent man targeted by the Yakuza, made him seem even more hideous.

I also consulted Matsuda, the homeroom teacher of the class, but Matsuda answered while avoiding my gaze.

‘Give up. I gave up the guidance for him.’

Due to his fiery temper, tiger-like face, and gorilla-like body, even the person who played the role of student director in the second grade gave up.

Even more, she had no choice but to fear Kim Yoo-sung.

And it happened without any foreshadowing.

***

Monday, April 24th, first period.

Today’s daily English class was also held.

Mizuki was reading English text, walking around the table, avoiding eye contact with Kim Yoo-sung as much as possible.

“Which of this and this is cheaper?”

If she led, the children with bad pronunciation could do their best to speak accordingly.

I read the following sentence, feeling proud.

“Left apples are $5 cheaper than right bananas”

During her class, she realized that Kishimoto, sitting in the back seat, was sleeping with her upper body covered with a book.

She wanted to get closer and wake her up but couldn’t because the seat next to her was Kim Yoo-sung.

So, while memorizing English texts, I glanced at her, and it seemed that I noticed Kim Yoo-sung’s gaze.

‘Oh my god! Our eyes met!’

When she was screaming inside in surprise, Kim Yoo-sung unexpectedly woke Kishimoto up, who was sleeping next to him, to join her class.

His behavior, which was completely different from what she expected, made Mizuki think, ‘Is he surprisingly nice unlike the vicious rumors?’

As her inner closeness with Kim Yoo-sung slightly increased, she gained confidence and decided to proceed with the next class.

“Then… Since today is the 24th, can the person sitting in the back seat read the next text?”

She said it, thoughtlessly, as she looked around the classroom.

But it was Kim Yoo-sung who responded to the remark.

Rattle!

An unusually loud sound of a chair being dragged.

“It’s me.”

Come to think of it, it was the first time she heard his voice.

When he stood up from his seat, far above the average height of the Japanese, the eyes of the class children naturally gathered.

Kim Yoo-sung, holding a textbook in one hand, looked down slightly and read the part she pointed out.

“I’m James from England. I came to experience Japanese culture. Can you recommend a good place?”

‘What’s with his voice….”

As if a boat horn was ringing, you could feel an overwhelming charisma in the heavy undertones.

At the same time, his English pronunciation was fluent like a foreign actor, and he had no particular bad habit.

Maybe it was because he was Korean.

It was because Japanese people grow up encountering Japanese-style English from an early age, so they cannot easily change their habits even as adults.

“So, what’s the right answer for this?”

I stammered a little because I was nervous, but when I complimented myself that I asked a good question, Kim Yoo-sung gave me an answer with perfect pronunciation again.

“I personally recommend Osaka because it is a place that is visited by many foreigners and has abundant tourism resources such as Kyoto, Nara, and Kobe.”

Soon after he had finished all his answers, the whole class fell into a strange silence.

“Nice.”

Mizuki, who was the first to come to her senses, hurriedly applauded, meaning that he did well.

Then, Kim Yoo-sung slightly lowered his head and sat down again.

Mizuki, who was fascinated by his voice for a moment, shook her head and talked to herself.

‘Wake up, Nanae! You’re a teacher and he’s a student!’

She was scared just now, and surprised by his voice, it was really stupid.

She whipped herself to regain her senses and finished her classes.

Two days later, she had no idea that a greater ordeal awaited her.