Practical Classroom: Kaoru Hanayama's Classroom of Merit

On the second day of class meeting, Chabashira Sae, standing on the podium, looked around at the students and began to speak.

"Regarding Sudo's violent incident, the deliberation officially concluded yesterday. The result was that no punishment was imposed due to insufficient evidence. The previously suspended personal points should have already been transferred to your terminals."

Upon hearing this, Sudo let out a deep breath as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

Cheers erupted from the entire class, led by Ike and Yamauchi.

The heavy atmosphere that had lasted for several days was swept away, and the students, having confirmed their terminal balances, showed relieved smiles.

Chazhu picked up the chalk and wrote down the current class points of each class on the blackboard.

Class A, 1020

Class B 850

Class C, 660

Class D 460

"Enough with the arrogance. Look at the numbers on the blackboard."

The classroom fell silent once again after a cold glance from the tea pillar.

"Based on the average score of the last midterm exam, a maximum of 100 class points will be awarded as a reward. However, it is very unfortunate that our Class C received the lowest number of points among all classes."

Huashan stared quietly at the blackboard, realizing that his poor grades were indeed dragging the class down.

An indescribable sense of apology emanated from his broad back.

"May I ask a question, Chabashira-sensei?"

Hirata raised his hand and stood up.

"Is there something wrong with Class D's points? They should have received bonus points in the midterm exams, so why are they getting fewer points than last month?"

The other students also showed surprise at Hirata's point.

Chazhu raised the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a mocking smile.

"The school takes this disturbance very seriously. To prevent similar incidents and malicious accusations without evidence, new rules have been added. Class D, which filed this baseless lawsuit, has had 100 class points deducted from its score."

"Hanayama, you're amazing!!"

Yamauchi shouted triumphantly, but Hanazono simply stared quietly at the heavy textbook.

......

At dusk after school.

The orange light streaming through the windows bathed the coffee and dessert shops inside the Beech Tree Shopping Center in a soft hue.

After finishing his studies, Huashan occupied a spacious four-person table in the back all by himself.

Amidst the cheerful chatter of the female students around him, Hanayama ate his parfait with a small spoon, his face expressionless.

Under these circumstances, a series of light footsteps approached Huashan's table.

"May I sit here?"

Huashan looked up and saw a girl with beautiful light peach-gold hair swaying in the breeze, and an approachable smile on her face.

He didn't stop eating the parfait, but slowly nodded in permission.

After Ichinose sat down in the seat opposite, a mischievous smile appeared on her face, and she tilted her head slightly.

"Does Hanayama-kun still remember me?"

"You were the natural leader of Class B. I remember you."

When Hanayama answered with yakuza-style words, Ichinose laughed out loud.

"What Hanayama-kun says is always a bit hard to understand and unique. Being called the group leader makes me feel like I'm the bad guy."

She spoke in a completely uninhibited manner, crossing her hands on the table, her expression gradually turning serious.

"Hanayama-kun really has amazing abilities. We've even heard about Sudo-kun's incident. You really are a reliable person."

In Ichinose's eyes resided a pure light of wonder.

"It's nothing serious."

"No, no, no, being able to do that is already amazing."

Ichinose lowered her eyes slightly and bit her lip.

Her hands clenched slightly, a sight that did not escape Huashan's notice.

"...Actually, the reason I came to see Hanayama-kun today is to make a slightly outrageous request."

Tell me about it.

Hanayama put the spoon back on the plate and spoke in a low voice. Ichinose raised his head as if he had made up his mind.

"Hanayama-kun... could you pretend to be my boyfriend for a moment?"

Upon hearing those words, Huashan fell silent for a moment.

Even for him, who had traversed countless battlefields in the world of Yakuza, this was an unexpected and abrupt proposal.

Explain your reasons.

"Actually, I received a love letter from a girl in my class..."

Ichinose began to speak with a troubled and somewhat heartbroken expression.

"I can't meet that girl's expectations. But if I directly reject her with words, it will definitely hurt her deeply. However, if she knows that I already have a boyfriend, I think she will naturally give up."

That face was filled with genuine goodwill, showing that he truly cared about his classmates and didn't want anyone to get hurt.

"Why are you looking for me?"

"If it were a boy from my own class, he would immediately be exposed as lying, right? But if it's Hanayama-kun, I think that child would definitely believe it and think that since Ichinose has such a powerful person by her side, there's nothing she can do about it."

Ichinose leaned forward with a serious look in her eyes, trying to persuade Hanayama.

but.

Huashan shook his head slightly.

"That's not right."

A low and very firm denial.

Ichinose's eyes widened.

"Why……?"

"You said you didn't want to hurt her, right?"

Hanayama gently clenched his huge fist on the table and stared straight at Ichinose.

"Regardless of whether the other person is male or female, they made up their mind before confessing their feelings to you. Faced with that unwavering determination, you intend to brush it off with lies, which is a desecration of their feelings and a violation of the principles of human kindness."

“…………”

Ichinose's shoulders trembled slightly.

"Pretending to be gentle and forcing the other person to accept it is not thoughtfulness at all. It's just willful self-gratification."

Hua Shan's words were utterly merciless.

No matter how beautiful or kind the other person is, Huashan will never compromise when faced with wrong reasoning.

"Look the other person straight in the eye and tell them that you can't respond to them; that's the bare minimum of sincerity."

Ichinose fell silent and lowered her head.

"...That's exactly what Hanayama-kun said."

After a few seconds of silence, Ichinose muttered something softly.

When she looked up, the confusion and escapism in her eyes had vanished, replaced by a clear light.

"I just didn't want to be disliked, I wanted to run away. I didn't properly accept that child's awareness. I'm sorry for making such a strange request."

"If you can spot the mistake, that's good."

As Huashan said this, he picked up the spoon again and put the slightly melted parfait into his mouth.

Ichinose looked at Hanayama and let out a gentle laugh.

"Thank you, Hanayama-san. It's so good that I came to talk to you. ...I will face this head-on."

Ichinose stood up, much more upright than when she first arrived.