“Good morning.”

“!”

Oh. It's ma'am Iris.

I look behind me once again and there's still no Eli-chan. She will really be absent huh.

I'll set asides my questions for now. I have no way to get the answers at the moment anyway.

“Gooooooood morning po, ma'am Iris~!!”

“Take your seat.”

Hmmm?

Ma'am Iris just glanced at me. But she immediately turned her eyes away when she met mine.

She's avoiding me?

Well, that makes sense.

She just rejected me last time after all. It must be awkward even for someone like her.

But, should I still continue? I mean, I'm only wooing her because of the deal I made with Eli-chan.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

I will keep going.

Otherwise, Eli-chan will use it as an excuse to break our deal. And then she can leave to her mother.

Alright.

I'll come to ma'am Iris by lunchtime.

I'll focus on the lesson for now...

—An hour later, ma'am Iris is packing her things.

Well, it's not much so she did it pretty quickly.

But that's not why I'm looking at her intently. It's because she has been stealing glances at me even when she was teaching.

Even now.

Does she need something or what?

Oh. She looks at me again. I raise my hand shaking it gently.

“!”

Perhaps I'm imagining it but she flinched when I waved at her.

And now she looks flustered— at least that's how I see it.

“Mister Reverren.”

“““““................”””””

The whole class went silent.

And they're looking at me like as if waiting for a show of me getting scolded.

“Yes po ma'am.”

“Come to my office by 12 o'clock.”

And then she immediately walks away without waiting for my reply.

“Fufufu. Alrighty po ma'am~”

Hm-mmm. I should buy her lunch or should I just invite her to eat with me at the canteen?

The latter sounds like something she will not agree with. Eating with her at her office is already less likely, nevermind inviting her to eat at the canteen.

Well, what should I do?

Whatever. It's by lunchtime anyway. I'll decide later...

「11:57」

I am walking towards the faculty building. I have my lunchbox with me.

I've decided to ask ma'am Iris first before deciding.

She will most likely reject me though.

Well, whatever.

*Knock!*Knock!*Knock!*

“Hello po ma'am. It's me po!”

“.................”

No response?

“Ma'am?”

“.................”

Why is she not responding?

“Ma'am—”

“Come in, mister Reverren.”

I open the door.

“Good afternoon po ma'am.”

She's doing some paperwork. Uwaah, her desk is occupied by stacks of papers.

“.................”

She is just looking at me intently. Or rather, is she glaring at me?

Is she mad?

Bloody hell.

What did I do wrong?

“Uh, hello ma'am. Did you perhaps change your mind and now you wanted to be friends with me?”

“.................no.”

Agh. Still a ‘no’ huh.

Well, there's no need to rush.

“Have you eaten your lunch—”

“Why?”

What?

“What do you mean by that po ma'am?”

“Why were you absent yesterday?”

“Because my da—”

“Do you really need to skip all of your classes just because I rejected you?”

Agh.. That isn't why but that is pretty brutal.

“I am aware it is my fault. I would have let it slide if it was only my subject you skipped, but why did you need to skip other classes too?”

“Beca—”

“I apologize for rejecting you like that, however, that is for your own good. So what if you're upset because of it? It does not entitle you to skip your classes.”

Let me speak bloody hell.

“Like what I said, I would have let it slide if it's just my lesson but no. You are absent the whole day. You've missed a lot of stuff from all of your subjects.”

“I—”

“So what are you planning to do now?”

“I will just ask my classmates for notes and other things I missed.”

“I see.”

“.................”

“.................”

She averted her gaze when I was staring at her.

And now she's taking a black folder from the shelf of her desk.

“Take this.”

She then put it on her table offering it to me.

“What is this po ma'am?”

I open and it contains several papers from all of my subjects.

“Those are handouts from your teachers. I ask them for it. There are also answer sheets you need to submit today. That's all I can help you with.”

“Hmmmmmm.”

Heh.

I am staring at her and she's flustered about it. She's really avoiding eye contact.

“What is it?”

“Fufufufufufufufufu..”

“What are you giggling for?”

“Well, it's just that... You care about me after all.”

“!”

Fufu.

“I-I do not.”

“Fufufufufufufu.”

“Don't be smug about it. You are my student that's why I will care for YOUR ACADEMICS. But I DO NOT care about you as a person at all.”

How cold.

“Really po ma'am? I'll leave it like that then.”

“.................”

“Fufufufufufu.”

“.... Kindly leave now. You still need to finish and submit that today. And I am busy so I will appreciate if you disappear from my sight now. I need to focus.”

“Sure. These are all easy. I can finish them quickly. So, shall we eat lunch now?”

“What? No. Leave.”

“I brought my lunch with me.”

I point at the guess' seat. My lunchbox is sitting there.

“Leave. I am busy. I do not care if you brought that with you or not.”

“Stop acting cold po ma'am. I know you're not really that kind of a person.”

“You don't know anything about me mister Reverren. So leave before I give you a deduction.”

“Deduction? Sure. Eating lunch with you will be worth it. I don't mind at all.”

“Can you kindly take your grades seriously?”

“I am.”

“Then leave now.”

“We will still be eating.”

“No.”

“Just think of it as my way of repaying you po for your effort. I really appreciate this after all.”

I wave the black folder gently.

“I am your teacher. It is my duty. So kindly leave me now!”

This interaction feels familiar.

“I am your student po ma'am. I don't find it strange that I wanted to treat my teacher to lunch.”

“Just what do you want mister Reverren? Why are you so eager to get closer to me? What's your agenda?”

“I wanna be friends.”

“Why? Because you pity me? I am sorry but I am comfortable being alone. You do not need to care about my personal life. Just leave me alone please.”

“Well I am not pitying you po ma'am. I just really wanted to be friends...”

“I already said no. It's improper. So just leave.”

“I know. It's what you said the last time.”

“.................”

“I don't know why are you so against with it ma'am. I don't know anything about you at all. However, I wanted to be your friend. And why I'm so stubborn despite your repeated rejections? Because I can tell that you want it too.”

“.................”

“.................”

She isn't responding. She isn't even looking at me.

Didn't work huh.

I'll try again next time I think.

She's so hard to melt.

I take my lunchbox.

I shouldn't bother her anymore. It may anger her after all.

“I'm leaving po ma'am.”

“.................”

Still no response.

“Later.”

“Eh?”

“I'll treat you somewhere after school. I'm currently busy.”

“.................”

“.................”

“.................”

“Actually, nevermi—”

“Fufufu. Sure po ma'am. That is much better!”

“Leave.”

“Alrighty~”

*Bam*

I shut the door close.

Fufufufu.

I don't know what happened but this is good.

This is a step forward.