The classroom was buzzing like a kicked beehive. Everyone whispering about the new teacher, guys pretending not to drool, girls already gossiping about her skirt and shoes.
Me? I was frozen.
Saki Hoshino stood at the front like she belonged here, like she hadn't dissolved in my arms just nights ago. She wrote her name on the board, crisp strokes of chalk, hips shifting with every line like she knew exactly what she was doing.
Kai elbowed me. Hard.
"Yo, bro, why you standing like you just saw Jesus with tits?"
I didn't answer. Couldn't.
Aki leaned back in his chair, eyes slitting at me. His voice came low, cutting through the noise.
"You know her."
It wasn't a question.
I forced my jaw to unclench. "She's just… a teacher."
Aki's stare didn't break. Kai, meanwhile, was whispering like an idiot:
"Holy shit, Renji, she's hot. Like, my future wife hot. If she ever bends over at the desk, I'm gone. Dead. Funeral's on Friday."
