It was another day on the way to school.
"Somehow, it feels strange to have to go to school so diligently even though this isn’t reality. Like I’m getting ripped off or something..."
It felt like a loss to be so dutiful about going to school when this wasn’t even the real world.
It was a virtual world anyway, so couldn’t I at least slack off a little?
Just as I was feeling disappointed at that thought, Maria came up beside me.
"Hai... today, I’ll be participating in school activities too."
"Huh? Oh, right. Come to think of it, Maria isn’t visible to the NPCs around here, is she?"
"More precisely, they can’t perceive me."
There had been a time before when Maria suddenly appeared at school.
I’d been startled and asked what she was doing, but for some reason the NPCs had acted completely normal, as if they couldn’t see her.
That was when Maria had told me.
She’d set it up so NPCs couldn’t perceive her.
"So, are you coming as a student?"
"No. Participating as a student could unnecessarily affect the observation. I’ve updated my role to a visitor instead."
"I see. But isn’t that a little sudden?"
I couldn’t figure out Maria’s intentions.
Joining school activities so suddenly.
It was so far removed from the Maria I’d known, who had only ever watched from the sidelines.
"I judged that it would allow me to obtain a different result than before."
"A different result?"
"Even if I know the positions and classifications of the stars, the actual night sky differed from that knowledge. In this school life situation, I need that kind of practical simulation as well."
"So that’s why."
After hearing Maria’s explanation, I could understand it.
She’d gotten something out of seeing the actual night sky, so I guessed she thought there would be something to gain from participating directly this time too.
"Ooh! Arus is coming to school with us too?"
Tohka seemed amused that Maria would be joining school life with us.
"If Arus comes too, this’ll definitely be fun."
"Hee~ Arus is coming to school, huh..."
Miku licked her lips while looking at Maria.
I did wonder if a real idol was supposed to act like that, but at this point I’d decided to just accept it as one of her quirks.
There was no point arguing any further. I’d be the only one tired out.
*******
"Hey, Hieta!?"
As soon as I stepped into the classroom, Tonomachi came over to me.
"What is it?"
"Who the hell is this beauty!? She’s in casual clothes, and she doesn’t even look like a transfer student or anything..."
Tonomachi pointed at Maria, who was standing beside me.
As expected of Tonomachi, he reacted the second a girl showed up.
"Hmm, so he really doesn’t know her."
Judging by that reaction, it seemed he’d genuinely been unable to perceive her until now.
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"No, nothing."
I brushed off Tonomachi’s confusion and casually introduced Maria while glancing at her.
"Well... I guess the best way to put it is that she’s here to observe the school. Her name is Arus Maria. Maria, this idiot here is Tonomachi Hiroto."
"So I should call him Tonomachi Idiot? Understood."
"That’s not my name! Hieta! Explain it properly!"
"Well, it’s not really wrong, is it?"
"Nooooo!!!"
Honestly, the formula Tonomachi = idiot wasn’t wrong.
Not for any deep reason. He just turned into a complete idiot whenever girls were involved.
...Or maybe not? Maybe he was just an idiot all the time?
"Um, um, Hieta-kun. Who’s that girl?"
The trio of Ai, Mai, and Mii had come over at some point.
When the three of them saw Maria beside me, their eyes went wide.
"...No way!"
"If you hurry now, it’s not too late! Go back to your parents!"
"Even if she goes back, she’s still guilty. What a tragic incident..."
Oh, this was the first time I’d heard Mii use a different line.
Still, guilty? What was that supposed to mean?
Wait. Could it be...
"Um, I think there’s a misunderstanding, but I’m not a kidnapper. Maria, these three are Ai, Mii, and Mai, in that order."
The three of them still didn’t let go of their suspicious looks.
"You really aren’t?"
"You said Maria, right? You’re not being threatened or anything, are you?"
"If I were being threatened..."
"No, do I really look like the kind of person who’d kidnap someone!?"
Only after I complained about how unfair this was did they finally apologize, saying they’d overreacted.
Seriously, between this and this morning, everyone was treating me way too harshly.
I didn’t even go around doing bad things.
Creak
While I was recalling what happened this morning, the front door of the classroom opened and Yoshino came in.
"Yahho~! Hello~ everybody! Today too, the beautiful female teacher! Yoshino’s lesson is starting~!"
"G-Good morning."
"Yes, nice to meet you. Yoshino, Yoshinon. Ah, you may have already heard, but Maria will be observing today."
I explained to Yoshino, who was acting as the teacher, what Maria had told me that morning.
That she would be observing because there might be a different result between what she knew and what she actually experienced.
Yoshino nodded and said,
"Like observing a class?"
"That’s an easy way to think about it. But you knew about class observation too, Yoshino?"
I wasn’t trying to look down on Yoshino or anything. I was genuinely surprised.
Given that Yoshino usually hadn’t attended school, there was a chance she wouldn’t have known.
"I-I’m... a teacher, so...! I studied... lots of things about school...!"
Hearing Yoshino say she’d studied school-related things because she was a teacher, I felt proud of her.
She didn’t even look old enough to be a high school student yet, and she’d studied hard to fulfill her role properly.
And being a teacher must have made it even harder.
I really thought that was impressive.
"Oh, so Arus is observing this class...?"
"Ah, right. It’s not our only class, after all."
Yoshino’s words reminded me.
Our group was currently split into two classes.
One was Class 4, where I was now, and the other was Class 3, where Kaguya, Yuzuru, Miku, and the commander were.
Maria’s goal was to experience school life with us and find the differences she could feel from that.
So there was no reason she had to stay in my class.
"...There may be meaning in observing school life without Hai as well."
Maria seemed to be considering whether to stay here or go to Class 3, where the others were.
So I decided to give her a bit of advice.
"Maria. I think you should do whatever you want. Life is a series of choices, and no matter what you choose, you’ll probably regret it somehow. So just pick the one you’ll regret the least."
I’d said a lot, but the point was simple.
Just do whatever you feel like.
Follow your heart.
It wasn’t like this was some life-defining decision or anything, and it wasn’t like the future was on the line, so the best thing was to do what you wanted.
"Then, I..."
Maria, having finished thinking, opened her mouth.
*******
"Teacher. I have a question about the lesson."
"Ah, y-yes! W-what is it, Arus...?"
In the end, Maria chose to observe Class 4, where I was.
She said she didn’t even know why herself.
And so class began, but the situation was now heading in a somewhat troublesome direction.
"About the English from just now, isn’t there an error?"
"Eh? Huh?"
Murmur murmur
"Ah, um... for now, according to the textbook..."
Maria was so smart that she’d pointed out an error in something from the textbook.
The reason she’d asked that question was entirely my fault.
Because I’d told her she should ask questions if she was curious about the lesson.
I’d only said it because I wanted Maria to participate in class properly, but now it had turned into a blade stabbing Yoshino in the side.
"Maria, stop! Stooop!!!"
I stopped her with the smallest voice I could manage, making an X with my fingers.
"Hai, was there a problem with my question?"
"Well, the problem is that the difficulty level of your questions is too high. The teacher can’t do anything about problems with the textbook itself, so please don’t point those out."
"Understood. I’ll work on improving it."
I could relax a little at Maria’s answer.
She’d understood what I meant, right?
"I’m sorry, teacher. About that question just now, wouldn’t it be better to change the textbook you’re using? The one currently in use is outdated and obsolete overseas—"
"Maria! Stop!"
It seemed Maria hadn’t understood at all.
"I thought this would solve the problem... was there an issue?"
"Textbooks aren’t something you can just change that easily... Look, Yoshino’s getting a little teary-eyed."
"So telling the truth is forbidden. Class is difficult."
I signaled to Yoshino with a gesture that she could resume the lesson.
I’d only just started this teacher role, and I’d already done something really awful to Yoshino.
"Haa."
Was there even a class today that could handle Maria?
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