An Offer He Can't Refuse EP.6

It's my fault. Everything... It's all my fault. If only I had paid a little more attention to her, none of this would have happened. She wouldn't have those scars. She might not have harbored such dark thoughts. I've made the same mistake again. So, never again. Never again will I let her get hurt. Never again will I let her make a bad choice. Even if I'm hated forever. Because I'm her... Takanashi Sora's sister. "Could you... show me your wrist under the bandage?" '...How did he know?' And this is someone I've only known for less than a day. Of course, suspicion is natural; if someone has a bandaged wrist, you'd think of self-harm. But if it were just suspicion, he'd normally ask why I have it. Instead, he asked to see. As if he already knew the state of my wrist under the bandage. Which means... '...Ayane must have told him.' It wouldn't have been Hoshino, Nonomi, or Shiroko. Just as I don't want my juniors to know, they wouldn't want my condition to reach anyone else's ears. '...What should I do now...?' I had considered the possibility of Sensei finding out, but there's nothing I can do about it now. 'Maybe I'll just brush it off with a vague excuse for now and think about it later.' "It's..." I was about to dismiss it as a woman's secret and started to speak, but... "Sensei, I can't just let that comment slide." "Yeah, you can't... huh?" "Yes. I can't overlook what you just said." "Eh? Sh-Shiroko?" "No way," "N-Nononomi, too? Wh-what's going on...?" For some reason, Hoshino stepped in front of me, glaring at Sensei, and Nonomi and Shiroko held me protectively, also glaring at him. Hoshino's aura was even radiating a murderous intent I had never seen before. Honestly, I was fucking bewildered. Even Hoshino, who was suspicious of Sensei until the middle of the original story, never showed such a reaction. And Nonomi and Shiroko, who should have high affinity from the start, reacting like this is beyond strange. "Seeing that, you must know too..." While I was flustered by their reactions, Sensei mumbled something to himself and then... "I'm sorry, I misspoke," He bowed his head and apologized before leaving. "Uhee~ That was close." "Yeah." "I agree..." 'What was close, you idiots...?' "Senpai, what did you do this time?" "...I don't know either." Well, one thing's for sure. "Sensei's affinity rating just tanked." * Despite the strange incident, things went back to the original story after returning to Abydos. Praising Sensei's abilities, Serika accidentally revealing the debt, Serika running off saying she can't trust Sensei, and me explaining Abydos' current situation in her place, everything happened just as it should. '...Is this right? Something majorly different from the original just happened?' To be honest, I felt a sense of dread seeing them act so nonchalant after being so wary just moments ago. Anyway, after the conversation ended and everyone dispersed, I checked my gun in our usual classroom. The door slid open. "I knew you'd be here." Sensei walked in and greeted me casually. ...Well, I expected this. He couldn't ask me with the others around, so he waited until I was alone. "What, Sensei? Coming to see me when I'm alone... Ah, is that your thing?" "....." "....Tch, boring." I put my heart into that joke, but Sensei just stared at me without even smiling. 'Fine, then I'll take the initiative.' "Ayane told you, didn't she? About my wrist and all that." "...Yes." "Just so you know, I'm not going to tell you the reason, just like I didn't tell Ayane." It's the same reason I didn't tell Ayane. Even if Sensei believed me, he would definitely try to stop me. But... "Instead, I'll make you an offer you can't refuse." "...An offer?" If my actions have messed up the original story, I'll have to take some losses to fix it. "You know, Sensei, your reputation isn't great right now." Aside from Ayane, everyone has a bad impression of Sensei because of what happened earlier. Not only Hoshino and Serika, whose impressions weren't good from the start, but also Nonomi and Shiroko, who had a good impression of him initially. 'Of course, that includes me.' "But I feel bad that you came here to help and are being treated like this." "So here's my offer." "With no time limit, if you can change from a suspicious adult no one trusts to a trustworthy adult..." "Simply put, if you can win over all the students." "Just once, I'll answer your question." That's how the original story will progress smoothly. "It's not a bad offer, is it?" In the original story, Sensei worked hard to gain Serika's trust. So, he must have intended to gain everyone's trust from the beginning. "Oh, and if you're going to win them over, start with Serika." The original story has to be preserved, after all. "So, what do you say? Will you accept?" "...." Sensei pondered my offer for a moment and then... "Haha, I never thought I'd be worried about by the student I was worried about..." 'What the hell is he talking about? I wasn't worried...' "Alright, I accept." "...Really?" The door slid open. "Then work hard on winning over the students." With those words, I opened the classroom door. I've held it in until now, but honestly, his face is too handsome, and I can't stand looking at it. I need to go home quickly for my mental health. "Ah, I forgot to say one thing." "Hmm?" "Just to boost your motivation." "If you don't win them over quickly, it might be too late." Because the original story has already begun.