168. The Trap (3)

"Quiet!!"

*BANG*

Kahawara Sensei slammed his book onto his desk, silencing the noisy students who still hadn't managed to move on from the assembly and the Principal's speech.

Seeing that a lot of them were looking at Yagami Reiji with different eyes than before, Kahawara Sensei couldn't stand it anymore.

"What's with all this noise, huh? I expect complete silence when I'm doing roll call, and if I hear another peep out of even one of you, the whole class will get a demerit, is that clear?" he snapped, his irritation boiling over.

The students looked down at their tables nervously, avoiding eye contact with this teacher who was in a terrible mood for whatever reason.

Sensei's eyes scanned the room for a few more seconds, only straightening up with a snort once he confirmed that no one intended to chat anymore.

"Good. Now speak up when I call your name."

He marked down attendance normally, but anyone could see that his anger hadn't subsided by seeing the clear veins on his forehead.

Though they were almost always there, since Kahawara Sensei and Anger were practically a married couple at this point, it was far more prominent than usual.

Once he had marked down everyone's name, only pausing for a brief second to take a deep breath before calling Yagami Reiji's name with gritted teeth, he closed his book roughly and walked out without saying another word.

Only when the classroom door closed did the others start whispering again.

"....Did his wife cheat on him?"

"Which crazy woman would marry that asshole?"

***

"Kahawara Sensei, you look a little unwell today. Maybe you should take a day off?"

The speaker was Higashino Sensei, who leaned over from the workspace adjacent to Kahawara Sensei with a worried expression.

"Hm? No...I'm fine," he replied curtly, snapping out of his daze.

He had been staring at his phone blankly, refreshing the school's unofficial forum on repeat to see when the next post would be up.

But three periods had almost passed, and there was no sign of it.

There was a strong urge to stand up right now and rush over to Kato Minato's class and grab him by the collar to ask what was taking so long.

Thankfully, his rationality hadn't completely disappeared.

He knew that he was probably waiting for the break after the third period, or maybe even lunchtime, to make the post.

That was when students would be allowed on their phones after all.

"Tch...How much longer?"

"Huh? Did you say something, Sensei?"

".....Nothing, you continue with your work."

*DING-A-LING-RIIIIING*

Finally, as if he could almost hear his salvation, the school bell rang to announce the end of the third period.

Higashino Sensei stretched in her chair next to him.

"Do you want to go to the staff break room for some coffee?" she asked.

"Not today, I still need to get some work done. You go ahead," Kahawara Sensei replied with a smile.

He wouldn't have said no on any other day, since this much younger teacher was quite attractive. But his priorities were elsewhere at the moment.

He watched as the rest of the teachers left with her, hurriedly opening up the forum once again out of anxiety after making sure the room was empty.

"Come on, you little shit. Just how long will you take?"

As he was muttering under his breath, the door slid open across from him.

Kahawara Sensei looked up with frustration out of instinct, but his eyes widened when he saw Kato Minato standing at the entrance with his hands in his pockets.

A bad feeling shot through his body when they made eye contact, but he quickly forced it down by reminding himself he'd been very careful and couldn't possibly have been exposed.

"...What are you doing here?" he asked, not realizing that his voice was tinged with nervousness.

Minato smiled.

"I'm here to talk to you, Sensei."

"...Me? Why? Do you have any questions about English?"

Minato shook his head and walked in without asking for permission, his hands still in his pockets as he sauntered towards Kahawara Sensei as if he owned this place.

He stopped just two meters away from him.

"Sensei, I want the rest in advance, and with a little extra added on top."

Kahawara Sensei's face went completely pale as he dropped the phone in his hand, not even having the energy to pick it up after it clattered onto the floor.

"Wh-What are you talking about?"

"With how much the school is paying attention to the first post you asked me to make, I feel like they won't stop until they find out who made it. I'm in a very bad position, because even though I used some precautions, it's not impossible to track me down if they really put their resources into it. Which is why I feel like I need to be compensated a bit more for my troubles," Minato explained calmly.

But there was a slight robotic tone to his words, as if they were memorized.

Though the panicking teacher failed to notice that.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about!" Kahawara Sensei screeched, his voice cracking with a higher pitch.

Minato just rolled his eyes.

"Don't play this game with me. Did you think I wouldn't recognize your handwriting? With all the vile remarks you make when grading my papers, the style and format have been ingrained into my brain. I even have nightmares about them, you know? I don't know what you have against Yagami Reiji and the President, nor do I care, but I want my money in advance if you want me to make the second post and keep this a secret."

Kahawara Sensei collapsed onto his seat, his pale face becoming even more ghostly, as if the life had been drained from him.

But then he thought of something, and a light came back into his eyes.

"I still have no idea what you're talking about, but handwriting can be copied with enough effort!"

"Hmph, I knew you'd say that. Sure, I can't prove you did it, but if I hand the letter over to the school management and cooperate with them, do you really think they won't uncover enough evidence to implicate you? Are you 100% you left zero trails? I mean, how did you get so much cash in the first place?" Minato sneered.

"W-Why would you even do that! You'd get into trouble too!!"

Hearing Kahawara Sensei's words, Minato knew the facade was starting to crack.

So he leaned against the wall with what he thought was a confident pose and looked at the teacher disdainfully.

"Heh. What do you mean? After they find out that you threatened me with various strikes and biased marking after I refused the money, surely they'll understand that I was 'forced', right?"

"Wh-What? What complete nonsense is that? You clearly took the money, and we didn't even have any contact!"

"Yes, but who will they believe once they find out you were the mastermind? A crazy teacher going after his own students, or a poor teenager who is pretty good at faking a sad face?"

And just for good measure, Minato forced out a tear and started sniffling within a few seconds, though the terrified man didn't see the hand in his pocket squeezing a very special place to induce pain for this effect.

Kahawara Sensei stared in shock at the theatrical performance in front of him, his hands starting to shake with horror.

Seeing that he was at the tipping point, Minato changed gears.

"Alright, don't look so scared. Revealing everything has no benefit to me either. I'll still make the second post as long as you add a little extra as hush money on top of the remaining 200,000."

"R-Really? How much do you want? I don't have a lot on me!" Kahawara Sensei piped up, some color returning to his face.

"Not much, an additional 100,000 is enough."

"Deal!"

Kahawara Sensei immediately opened his desk drawer and took out a thick envelope. Then, he reached into his pocket and took out his wallet, pulling out a few bills from it.

"I only have 255,000 on me right now. I'll give you the remaining amount tomorrow, I promise!" he spoke hastily, handing the money to Minato right away.

Minato grinned and accepted the money happily, rifling the wad of cash with a bright smile.

"Don't worry, I'll make the post at lunchtime. Do you have any other specific requests for the contents? With the announcement the Principal made today, they might need more evidence to believe it this time."

Kahawara Sensei exhaled in relief, and the fear on his face was quickly replaced by a perfect 'evil villain' smile.

"Hehe. I was originally going to give this to you later for a third post, but now is the best time. Take this envelope and talk about the stuff inside in the gossipy tone you used for the first post."

He took out a second envelope, but this one was A4-sized to fit a set of papers inside it.

"What's it about?" Minato asked with a frown.

"Hehehe, it's a copy of the Student Guide the Principal mentioned, and a record of the testimonies by Yagami Reiji's victims. The guide says that a physical fight that ends in injuries is a minimum of one strike. He got into two fights, but one of them didn't cause a significant injury, so the strike was listed as a demerit. I falsified the testimony, adding that the victim had a bloody lip, which means he should have one more strike than what is recorded. I need you to emphasize in the post that only Fujikawa Noa could've marked it down as a mere demerit instead, and write the post from that angle. Is that clear?"

Minato's eyes widened, not expecting this old man to have done his research so quickly after the assembly ended.

"Fine with me. You can check the post at lunchtime."

He clutched the envelope in his hand and left the office at an incredible speed, giving off the feeling that he couldn't wait to get out of there.

Once he left, Kahawara Sensei leaned back in his seat and rubbed his temples.

"That was close...But it's fine. As long as those two are taken down, it'll be fine..."

***

Minato stood outside the office and breathed out, letting the turbid emotions within settle as the excitement started to kick in.

After making sure no one was around, he turned the corner and sat down on the floor with a thud.

He tapped his belt buckle and leaned over.

"Pleeeease tell me you got that?"