Tokyo: I am a Girls' School teacher

Things didn't go as smoothly as expected

Threatening a teacher so blatantly would be considered serious no matter where it happened, let alone in Japan where the concept of hierarchy between superiors and subordinates is rather strict.

So, the moment Shiori Shinohara finished her threat, the office fell into complete silence.

Everyone stopped making a sound. At the center of everyone's gaze, the girl slowly bowed.

"Teacher, I'm terribly sorry, but I had no other choice."

"..."

Was that really the only option?

Tetsufumi Hirakawa was at a loss for words.

Conflicts among family members are often not caused by just one side alone. The clash between Ms. Shinohara and Shiori surely had Shiori's share of responsibility too.

Tetsufumi Hirakawa was quite certain that there must be problems with their communication.

When two people with difficult personalities collide, it eventually leads to this strange situation they have now.

These thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Facing the young lady's threat at this moment, Tetsufumi Hirakawa stared at Shiori Shinohara, who had straightened up again, and spoke:

"Classmate Shinohara, do you know something?"

"Teacher, please tell me."

He smiled slightly and continued, "Although I'm not a very competent teacher, I've also studied the rules of the wind instrument competition — the number of participants on stage can't exceed 55, but it doesn't stipulate that it must reach 55, right?"

"..." Shiori Shinohara's face immediately darkened.

"And as the instructor of the Wind Instrument Club, I have the right to make suggestions regarding the list of participants for the national competition."

"..."

The implication was self-evident. To deal with this problem student who had the nerve to threaten the teacher, Tetsufumi Hirakawa fought fire with fire.

"Classmate Shinohara, you don't want to end up just watching your classmates compete from the audience, do you?"

Ah — It seemed that he had naturally blurted out the lousy lines from that strange system.

However, the effect of the system had to be triggered by his own initiative. Just saying the lines couldn't activate the hypnotic-level deterrence.

In the current situation, it certainly wasn't necessary to use the system yet.

But the content of this sentence alone was already enough to make this fifteen-year-old girl give in.

"..."

Shiori Shinohara's face looked even worse now.

The expressions of the other teachers in the office were also rather interesting. The innocent female teacher beside them was looking at him with a gaze that seemed to say, "Teacher Hirakawa, I didn't expect you to be this kind of person."

Well, it seemed that his usual harmless teacher image was about to crumble.

However, it was just a temporary counterattack. Tetsufumi Hirakawa wasn't interested in using low-level tactics like threats against a fifteen-year-old kid.

He looked at the girl with a cold face in front of him and finally said, "But don't worry, I won't do that."

A look of surprise appeared on Shiori Shinohara's face as she looked at him.

Tetsufumi Hirakawa smiled helplessly.

"Classmate Shinohara, now you know how it feels to be threatened, right?"

If the student in front of him were a boy, he probably wouldn't hesitate to pick up a pen and knock him on the head.

Unfortunately, it was a girl in front of him, and it really wasn't proper to do that.

So Tetsufumi Hirakawa twirled the pen in his hand aimlessly: "You can't threaten your teacher."

If it were someone else threatening him, he might actually fight back. However, the person threatening him was his student, and it wasn't what a competent teacher would do to compete with his own student.

Since he was honored with the title of "teacher", he should fulfill the responsibilities of a "teacher".

"I will convey your wishes to your mother."

After saying this sentence, the girl immediately showed a rather surprised expression, as if she hadn't heard clearly and wanted to confirm it again.

So Tetsufumi Hirakawa repeated it word by word.

"Regarding your wish, classmate Shinohara, that you don't want to give up music, I will convey it clearly to your mother on your behalf," he said seriously.

Shiori Shinohara was silent for a while, with a puzzled look on her face, and then shook her head: "It's impossible. Regarding —"

"Nothing is impossible."

Tetsufumi Hirakawa interrupted her and said, "Although communication may not necessarily solve the problem, not communicating definitely won't solve it."

"It's been a long time since you and your mother had a friendly conversation, right?"

"..."

Silence.

It seemed like a silent admission.

Tetsufumi Hirakawa didn't look surprised at all: "Since it's difficult for your wishes and your mother's wishes to be conveyed to each other, as a teacher, I will convey them for you."

"..."

After a long silence, the girl looked at him.

"Teacher, you're very likely to be fired if you do this, right?"

"..."

The expression on Tetsufumi Hirakawa's face froze.

Shiori Shinohara was surprisingly perceptive. Of course, it was also possible that she knew her mother quite well.

"Even though it might not be appropriate for me to say this, I still have to say it —"

"Classmate Shinohara, you and your mother have equally bad personalities."

The girl burst out laughing after hearing his comment.

She even dared to laugh.

Tetsufumi Hirakawa ignored her laughter and continued, "However, of course I have my own considerations too."

"The fact that I'm willing to convey your wishes on your behalf doesn't mean that I'm naturally 'on your side'."

"The choice between free will and the actual situation is a very complicated matter."

"I personally think it's rather inappropriate to blindly ignore reality or blindly restrain freedom."

"So whether it's your wishes or your mother's wishes, I will convey them for you both, hoping to find a balance point that both of you can accept."

"What do you think?"

Shiori Shinohara bowed: "Thank you, Teacher Hirakawa."

"It's what a teacher should do."

"Then how will you convey it?"

"I'll find time to pay a home visit and have a face-to-face talk with your mother."

"However, Teacher Hirakawa, although it might sound like I'm just standing by and doing nothing, I really can't do anything about this home visit."

"What do you mean?"

—

Just as Shiori Shinohara said, a mother who acts superior and isn't willing to listen to her child's heart probably has no intention of having a discussion at all. Even if Shiori Shinohara stepped in, it wouldn't make any difference.

He didn't know how many phone calls he had made, but all he got was the assistant saying, "Teacher Hirakawa, I'll report this matter to the boss," and then it was like a stone dropped into the sea, with no response at all.

Moreover, at the meeting next week, he received a warning from the principal. Well, it should be more accurately said that it was a warning from Ms. Shinohara.

After all, the principal was just an extension of Ms. Shinohara's will.

The content of the warning was as follows:

"Teacher Hirakawa, please focus on your job."

My job... right?

It was kind of ironic.

Meanwhile, the third semester was coming to an end. The deadline set by Ms. Shinohara, before the start of the second year of high school, was getting closer and closer.