Unusual

“To sum things up, I’ll be your homeroom teacher for now. Your regular teacher should be back in about a week, but until then, let’s try to get along.”

Yisha stood on the podium, announcing this to the children with a hint of resignation.

Deep down, her initial intention had merely been to slack off here, hoping to soothe her somewhat weary mind.

However, after the junior high principal’s intervention, Yisha had to bid a definitive farewell to any thoughts of taking it easy.

Regardless, the principal had helped her immensely, and Yisha found his request difficult to refuse. Thus, she could only temporarily assume the responsibilities of a homeroom teacher.

Standing on the platform, Yisha gazed down. Below, she saw a sea of youthful faces, their curious eyes constantly scrutinizing their new teacher.

Their gazes were imbued with the unique innocence and trust of children.

That very trust in their eyes only deepened Yisha’s helplessness. She was capable of teaching the children at the orphanage, but that didn’t mean she could manage an entire class of students.

In the past, she had occasionally taken over other people’s lessons, but a university classroom was simply not comparable to a junior high classroom!

At university, the nearest student was at least two meters away. Here, they were less than a meter, and chalk dust from erasing the board could easily land on them. The feeling was entirely different.

“We have ten minutes until the scheduled class time. Does anyone have any questions they’d like to ask? Of course, you’re welcome to use the restroom now too.”

Yisha glanced at her watch, posing the question to the children.

As the new homeroom teacher, it was imperative to quickly get acquainted with the students. Yisha wasn’t afraid of them asking questions; her only fear was them bottling things up.

If children kept everything to themselves, they were prone to developing psychological issues.

Just then, a small boy raised his hand high. This brought a slight sense of relief; it seemed the children were quite enthusiastic and welcoming of their new homeroom teacher.

Unfortunately, the boy’s very next question immediately disabused Yisha of that notion.

“Teacher, are you a boy or a girl?”

“Well, is that something everyone is very curious about?”

Yisha surveyed the classroom, noticing that every single student nodded in unison.

“Because it’s hard to tell your gender from your clothes and face, Teacher.”

“Hmm…”

Yisha looked down at her attire. A professional men’s suit was unambiguous on its own, but combined with her neat, short hair and rather androgynous face, it was genuinely difficult to discern her gender, much like trying to distinguish male from female hares when they run side by side.

After sighing inwardly, Yisha gave her answer in an amiable tone.

“Your teacher is a girl, you know.”

A thunderous cheer, as if a bolt from the blue, instantly reverberated throughout the entire floor. Had the other classes not been on break, the sound might have been heard across the entire school building, including the principal’s office on the top floor.

“I told you she was a girl, but you wouldn’t believe me!”

“So what? Can you be her boyfriend? You’re still in the same boat as me!”

“I can’t believe she’s really a girl. She looks so cool, I thought she was a male teacher. It’s a bit of a shattered illusion.”

“Doesn’t this make it easier to approach her? If it were a male teacher, I wouldn’t want that. Yuri is true love!”

Numerous remarks filled the classroom. Even with Yisha’s keen hearing, she could only make out a few of them.

As it happened, she distinctly heard every one of the comments listed above.

‘Are junior high students these days really so precocious? Won’t these children be led astray?’

For the first time, Yisha felt a flicker of doubt about a school’s teaching atmosphere. However, she quickly composed herself. Guiding students was a long-term endeavor; there was no need to rush.

If things truly proved unmanageable, she could always take the children to a different school. Alternatively, she and her sister could take turns teaching them; after all, they lacked neither funds nor qualified educators.

Either of them could easily become a university professor. Their approach was both down-to-earth and ‘down-to-earth with a billion-dollar backing!’

Having calmed down, Yisha tapped on the desk to signal for quiet. Just as she was about to speak, she noticed the boy who had first asked a question had raised his small hand again.

“Student, do you have any other questions?”

“Does Teacher have a boyfriend?”

Simple, direct, and blunt. Yisha’s smile was starting to falter.

“No.”

“Then why doesn’t Teacher have one?”

“That’s my private matter, student.”

“Yes, but I’m very curious.”

The boy wore an expression of pure curiosity. For some reason, Yisha felt as though the entire class was eagerly awaiting her answer.

Just as she was about to cut off the topic, Yisha’s attention was drawn to another boy who stood up. Before she could order him to sit down, a statement that made her see black emerged.

“Teacher does have a boyfriend, and it’s me!”

Yisha decisively walked down from the podium and approached the boy, delivering a sharp hand chop to his head.

“Yu, zip it!”

The boy turned, teary-eyed and pitiful. Yet, Yisha caught the subtle curve at the corner of his lips.

This rascal was doing it on purpose!

Seeing through his intentions at a glance, Yisha felt a small wave of resignation.

Beyond her usual work, Yisha and her sister also served as teachers at an orphanage. They would often visit the children, playing with them and imparting new knowledge.

Yu was one of those children. The children unanimously agreed that calling them ‘older sisters’ was better than ‘teachers’, fostering a closer relationship where a little teasing wouldn’t hurt.

However, they were in school now. Yu’s joke would only make the students think she was too casual, that such jokes were acceptable, and consequently, she would completely lose her dignity as a teacher.

A homeroom teacher was, after all, still a teacher. While being amiable with the children was fine, maintaining a teacher’s authority was also crucial, otherwise not a single student would quietly listen to a lesson.

Noticing Yisha’s actions and her address, the other students in the class all fell silent. They understood that while their teacher was kind, some things simply couldn’t be said.

Just at that moment, a siren wailed, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Waaaaaah! A precursor to a Spatial Quake has just been observed in this area. This is not a drill. All residents are to immediately evacuate to shelters! Repeat…”

“Eh?”

The sudden alarm captured everyone’s attention, Yisha included. She looked outside in astonishment, her expression shifting continuously as she repeatedly confirmed she hadn’t misheard.

In all these years, this was the first time she had heard a Spatial Quake alarm. She had thought such things had long since become irrelevant to her.

Shock notwithstanding, Yisha immediately organized the students into an orderly queue for evacuation, following the instruction manual. In the end, as a certain little rascal left, he gave her a provocatively knowing smile.

A vein throbbed on her forehead. In a rather complicated mood, Yisha waved at Yu, offering a benevolent smile.

“Yu said those things again, didn’t he? Pranks should have a limit!”

“Shaya, I think we’d better leave quickly. If we’re found, we’ll have to accompany Yu in punishment tonight.”

The two girls who noticed their interaction whispered to each other in the queue, then blended into the crowd and left, avoiding getting into trouble themselves.

Watching the students leave one by one from the stairwell, Yisha frowned, looking out towards the school grounds.

There were things in this world that ordinary people didn’t know, and she was among the extraordinary few.

The world’s largest Spatial Quake, the Eurasian Great Disaster, erupted thirty years ago, centered in Mongolia. Its devastation was immense; it could be said that the entire country of Mongolia was wiped off the map.

This colossal calamity resulted in a staggering 150 million deaths.

Subsequently, Spatial Quakes would occur sporadically around the world, though their scale was never as before, at most destroying things within a hundred-meter radius.

Then, from a certain day in the year of the Eurasian Great Disaster, Spatial Quakes inexplicably stopped, remaining dormant until five years ago.

Humanity, having experienced the Eurasian Great Disaster, naturally didn’t do nothing. Such a massive catastrophe drew the attention of all nations, leading them to discover a way to evade Spatial Quakes: underground.

A Spatial Quake could destroy almost all matter within its range, yet it had limited destructive power against the ground itself.

Therefore, after the Eurasian Great Disaster, every country built underground shelters as much as possible for ordinary citizens to take refuge.

Naturally, some valuable facilities also had corresponding underground shelters to prevent their complete destruction and continued usability during a Spatial Quake, such as high-speed rail.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a girl. Yisha looked up, furrowing her beautiful brows.

It wasn’t that Yisha wasn’t engrossed enough in her thoughts; rather, the girl’s actions were simply too eye-catching.

While everyone else was heading towards the shelters, she alone was moving towards the school building. It was hard for Yisha not to notice the only person moving against the tide in the vast crowd.

“That student with the red twin tails, please stop!”

Struggling to push through the crowd, Yisha reached the girl.

Pausing to observe the girl’s appearance, even Yisha couldn’t help but admire her.

Her red hair and pupils exuded a vitality unique to girls, while white hair ribbons added a touch of purity. Her charming face, poised between youth and maturity, was a knockout; she surely ranked high on boys’ lists of dream girls.

However, those weren’t Yisha’s concerns. Composedly, Yisha opened her mouth to ask.

“Student, why are you going to the school building? A Spatial Quake is coming; you should go to the shelter.”

“Sorry, I left some materials in the classroom. I’ll just grab them and come right back,” the girl replied energetically.

“Hmm…”

Yisha checked her watch. Calculating based on the time the warning was issued, the girl’s actions weren’t a major problem, as long as she returned promptly.

“Itsuka Kotori, right? Hurry up and go, be careful.”

“Eh? How does Teacher know my name?”

“I’m your art teacher. The student roster has photos.”

Having answered Itsuka Kotori’s question, Yisha didn’t bother with her further. Instead, she continued to organize the evacuating crowd, striving to prevent chaos.

Itsuka Kotori looked at her, then turned and left. After reaching the school building, she went straight through the floors to the open space behind.

The next moment, a green light enveloped her delicate body. When the light dispersed, the girl’s figure also vanished.

‘Kotori must have evacuated, right?’ Shido stood in the Raizen High School shelter, his mind constantly racing.

Kotori’s words that morning, “even if a Spatial Quake occurs, you must come,” had made him restless. Now, the Spatial Quake had arrived just as they were about to have lunch.

‘No, no, it can’t be.’

Shido constantly consoled himself, yet that apprehension kept nagging him.

‘But what if? What if that person…’

Shido dared not think further. Suddenly, he remembered something: Kotori had a phone.

‘Doesn’t she have GPS? I can just check, can’t I?’

However, the result showed her location as near a family restaurant.

“Damn it, doesn’t she know how serious this is, that idiot!”

“Hey! Shido, where are you going?”

Shido immediately ran towards the exit, not even hearing Tonomachi’s astonished question.

At that moment, all he knew and felt was the burning anxiety in his heart and the image in his mind of his sister crying and shouting his name in front of the family restaurant.

High above Tengu City, an invisible aerial battleship slowly advanced above a family restaurant.

Inside the bridge, a red-haired girl with twin tails nonchalantly bit into a lollipop, her eyes fixed on the main screen. She was completely unaware that her phone’s GPS was on, or that her relative had received incorrect information through it.