Rina’s turn has finally come, I hope for her that she has prepared a little speech before her introduction. As she is a bit clumsy in public, it would be unfortunate to miss her intro from the beginning…. wouldn’t it?

At the mention of her name, Rina stands up instantly, almost by reflex, making her chair move noisily.

With her right hand and without looking behind her, she seized the chair to stop it in its racket and put it back correctly in position.

Awawawawa, I haven’t even started yet and I’m already getting noticed.

“…-mizu-san ?”

Now is not the time to panic, I need to pull myself together.

“…Shimuzu-san ?”

I usually don’t have a problem speaking in public, why am I suddenly freaking out like this?

Lost in her confusion, Rina does not even realize that Onigawara-sensei is calling her.

“Shimizu-san? Is everything okay?”

Rina breaks down after a while, looking at the trainee teacher with dismay.

“Yes?!”

“Is something wrong Shimizu-san? You look all pale.”

This is the first time in a long time that Rina has to appear alone in front of a class where she hardly knows anyone. Usually, Sophie and Aya are by her side to give her strength and courage in these situations.

“Excuse me everything is fine, I was just confused by the noise my chair made when I stood up, haha…”

She still has a long way to go before she can claim to be a successful adult. Let’s start with self-confidence maybe, right?

Confused, Rina’s eyes are spinning in all directions because of the stress, she unconsciously looks for landmarks around her to reassure herself.

*Psst*

A noise on the left comes to titillate the attention of Rina. She looks discreetly over her shoulder.

Ooshima calls out to Rina, he looks at her with compassion and whispers to her.

“Gambatte.”

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She closes her eyes for two seconds to regain her senses.

Minato-kun is right. I can’t make a fool of myself in front of everyone just because I’m a little stressed. Come on Rina, you can do it.

“Um, sorry Onigawara-sensei, I was elsewhere for a moment.”

“No problem, you can start your introduction.”

“Hello everyone, I’m Shimizu Rina. I’m 17 years old, I’m not enrolled in any clubs at the moment and my favorite food is cookies so if you have the opportunity to make them, I’d be happy to share my expertise with you.”

She said while discreetly licking her lips.

A girl in the class comes up to Rina.

“Shimizu-san, the cooking club starts its activity from tomorrow and it happens that the traditional first meal we make are cookies. If you are interested you can come and meet us at the club.”

“And I’ve never heard of such a tradition in the cooking club in recent years! I would have missed several opportunities to enjoy some piping hot cookies… Of course I’ll stop by tomorrow.”

“Haha, it will be my pleasure, maybe you will want to join the club after falling victim to our scrumptious dishes.”

“If your creations are better than my mom’s, I might be tempted.”

Fujisaki-sensei claps her hands a few times to attract the attention of the students.

“Thank you Shimizu-san for your introduction but if you don’t mind, we’ll continue. You will talk about your club activities after class, there are still quite a few students who need to introduce themselves and we’re getting close to the end of the day.”

Rina sits down quietly while releasing the pressure. A small exhale of relief escapes from her mouth.

Phew, I got through it in the end, it was-

“It wasn’t that hard.”

“Are you reading my mind or what, I’m starting to have doubts about you Minato-kun.”

“Haha, it’s mostly that you are easy to understand, I read you like an open book.”

“I don’t know if I should thank you for helping me earlier or if I should take offense at what you just said.”

“I gladly accept your compliments.”

“We’ll say it cancels out so you won’t get any praise from me.”

“Pff.”

“Humpf.”

Peacefully, the students make their introduction until the fateful moment of…

*Bell ringing*

… the end of classes. I always get cut off, that’s terrible.

On this sweet and saving melody, the students hear the bell of freedom ring, the first day of school is over.

Well, almost.

“Thank you all for participating, Onigawara-sensei is going to give you a document before you leave, it is a booklet gathering all the information about clubs and associations on campus.”

“Don’t forget that your participation in clubs and campus life can earn you points on your student card, so it’s in your best interest to get involved.”

The classroom empties little by little, Rina stretches out on her desk as if she was completely washed out.

“I couldn’t tell if it was the best or worst day of the year.”

“The worst I can understand, but the best? I can’t imagine you being the kind of person who is happy to be back in school after more than one month of holiday.”

“Your innuendo is out of place Minato-kun. It doesn’t sound like it, but I’m a diligent and very willing student, every year I look forward to going back to school and the holidays are a real torture for me…”

“That’s weird, it sounds wrong to my ears. What’s the real reason?”

“Ugh… Well okay, that’s mostly because it’s been a long time since I’ve seen my friends and when we’re in class, that’s when I see them the most.”

“Um, it’s a bit of a miss this year then… since you’re not with them I mean…”

Rina’s teary face surprises Minato, those big crocodile tears are genuine.

“…but!”

“But?”

“You always have the opportunity to meet them between classes and after as well.”

And of course we don’t forget that one of Rina’s goals this year is also to be on her own and to make new friends…

“If you say so…”