Chapter 115.5 School Days: Break the Ice (Illustration)
Chapter 115.5 School Days: Break the Ice (Illustration)
BEEP BEEP BEEP
“Ah, it’s already morning…”
A red-haired young woman turned off her alarm and sat groggily on the edge of her bed. On her nightstand stood several framed photos. She turned to them and stared for a few seconds, unmoving. She lived alone in a cheap apartment—Alessandra Mamoru.
“…I haven’t called Mom and Dad in a while,” she muttered before standing and stretching lightly.
In the small kitchen, she fixed herself a protein shake with fruit and oatmeal. Tossing everything into the blender, she drank it down quickly, then shook her head to fully wake up. Dropping to the floor, she began her morning workout.
“One, two, three…”
Push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and a long set of planks—fifteen minutes later, she had finished her routine. Afterward, she went to the bathroom for a shower. Fresh and energized, she tied her long red hair into a ponytail and got dressed for the day.
Banana in hand, Alessandra stepped into the small living room and sat at the low table, turning on the TV. Next to the screen sat an old game console and, beside it, a rough clay figurine. She stared at the pair in silence, her expression unreadable, before shifting her gaze away and clicking through channels. The news flickered by, then a fighting anime. Alessandra kept watching, but her eyes grew hazy, her mind somewhere else, almost on autopilot.
Finally, she stood, slipped into a red tracksuit, and grabbed her backpack and cellphone. She pulled a container from the fridge and added it to her bag.
“Ittekimasu,” she said softly to herself as she stepped out the door.
After a brisk fifteen-minute walk, Alessandra arrived at a small old house with a food stand out front—just in time to see a short girl in glasses step outside. The girl looked sleepy, but her face lit up when she spotted Alessandra.
“Ohayou, sensei!” Yumi hurried over with quick steps, smiling brightly. The difference in their height was striking: Yumi barely reached 1.48 m, while Alessandra stood tall at 1.75 m.
“Good morning, Yumi,” Alessandra greeted warmly. “Ready for school? Did you do your homework?”
“Yes! It was kinda hard, but I managed,” Yumi replied.
Yumi had once been withdrawn, a short girl bullied for her looks and body until recently. With Alessandra’s help—along with others—she had begun to change. Now she carried herself more cheerfully, at least around her teacher, where she felt safe.
The two walked together, chatting lightly, and within five minutes reached Ashikawa High School. There they split off into their respective roles.
Alessandra was in her first year of teaching. Though she carried herself with a cool, composed demeanor, students were drawn to her striking looks and her mixed Japanese–Italian heritage. She walked with pride, spoke firmly, and treated her students with care.
After greeting fellow teachers, Alessandra headed to the gym. She slipped off her tracksuit, revealing blue gym shorts and a white T-shirt—the same uniform as her students. The outfit accentuated her voluptuous figure, which she wore without shame. Standing tall, she strode confidently to the front of the gym to begin her first class.
When the first period ended and the second began, however, a flicker of unease crept into her expression. Alessandra sat with her notepad, tapping her pen nervously as her eyes lingered on a particular name. For a moment, her gaze glinted strangely.
The students began filing into the gym. She called roll one by one—until she reached it.
“Iryoku Taiyou.”
No answer.
Alessandra scanned the gym, tension still lingering on her face. With a small sigh, she shook her head and moved to mark him absent. He hadn’t shown up again.
She stood, blew her whistle, and was about to start the class—when the students all turned their heads toward the back.
A boy strolled in with his uniform shirt hanging open, moving like he owned the place. Sharp black eyes glinted under messy hair, and the crowd instinctively stepped aside to let him pass.
He didn’t hesitate. He walked straight toward Alessandra.
For a split second, her body trembled. She wanted to meet his gaze, but her chest tightened with a sudden ache. Her lips parted as if to speak, but no words came. She looked away.
Around them, the students whispered.
“It’s that guy…”
“Why would they even allow a delinquent like him here?”
“Look— even Alessandra-sensei looks nervous.”
“Shhh! He might hear you. You don’t wanna end up like Rio and her clique…”
Alessandra, still staring down, saw his legs stride past her. Without another word, he slouched onto a bench at the back, flopping down and closing his eyes as if to nap.
She hesitated, staring at him for a moment before turning back to her notepad. Her pen hovered, then pressed firmly against the paper.
Present.
“Okay, boys and girls, today we’re doing plyometric drills. Drink plenty of water… Now follow my lead. One, two, three…”
She continued the class earnestly, her voice sharp and energetic, though from time to time her eyes flicked toward the benches at the back—where he still lay sleeping.
At lunchtime, Alessandra made her way to the cafeteria. Along the way she reprimanded students running in the halls, stopped others for misbehavior, and even broke up a couple getting a little too handsy. Whenever a boy’s gaze lingered on her inappropriately, she silenced him with a sharp glare that made him look away immediately.
With her tall frame and commanding presence, Alessandra was a force to be reckoned with—especially compared to the average woman on campus.
“Sensei, we’re here!”
The call came as she stepped into the cafeteria.
A tall, elegant girl with long black hair stood to greet her with refined manners. At 1.59 m, she was taller than Yumi but still looked small beside Alessandra. Yumi herself was already at the table, waving brightly.
Alessandra joined them, setting down her bento. The three ate together happily, chatting in good spirits.
Unbeknownst to them, the rest of the cafeteria had turned to watch.
“Look—the three flowers of the school.”
“The two most beautiful students, and the most beautiful teacher, all together…”
“Goddesses.”
By the end of the school day, the outdoor field rang with the rhythm of effort—grunts, feet hitting the dirt, bodies rising and dropping in unison.
“Fufu… I’m tired, sensei,” Yumi puffed, cheeks flushed and skin glistening.
“It’s… burning,” Reika murmured. Her voice stayed calm, but sweat rolled down her temples in steady lines.
“Come on, girls, you’ve got this!” Alessandra encouraged, smiling wide as she led them through the exercises.
When the training wrapped up, Reika offered a polite farewell before heading off to meet her chauffeur. Alessandra, meanwhile, walked Yumi back home, greeting her grandmother at the food stand outside with a warm smile before setting off toward her own apartment.
This time, Alessandra took a different route. Still dressed in her tracksuit, she wandered into a large park in the middle of a residential district.
Her steps slowed as she neared a towering tree. Tilting her head back, she watched the branches sway in the breeze, her fiery red hair lifting with the wind.
She lowered herself onto the grass, leaning back against the trunk. For a brief moment, her eyes shimmered with the threat of tears. She brushed them away quickly, then lay back fully, staring at the sky.
“…You got taller,” she whispered to the clouds, her expression distant and thoughtful.
The next day, Alessandra walked through the school halls, her head held high as she smiled, nodding at greetings and encouraging students to have a good day.
Then she saw him again.
Iryoku.
Their eyes met for only a second, but the ache in her chest returned. She couldn’t hold his gaze—her eyes dropped, shame weighing her down. Words rose inside her, but nothing came out.
Iryoku kept walking, only to bump shoulders with another student.
“Hey, watch where you’re going!” the boy snapped. But his voice faltered the instant he realized who it was.
Iryoku’s snarl was immediate. “Do you wanna die, fucker?!”
The boy froze, stepping back in fear. His eyes darted desperately toward Alessandra, standing just a few meters away.
To his surprise, her expression wasn’t stern—it was tense, uncertain. Nervous.
The student quickly backed away and hurried off before Iryoku could make good on the threat.
Iryoku turned and kept walking, his voice carrying loud and scornful through the hall.
“Pussy.”
Alessandra lowered her gaze, then lifted it again, watching Iryoku’s back recede. Without realizing it, her feet moved after him. He turned the corner—she followed.
And froze.
There he was.
Iryoku loomed over Yumi, bending slightly toward her. Yumi’s face was tight with unease, almost fear. His mouth curled into a smirk, sharp eyes roaming shamelessly over her body until they locked on her chest. He rubbed his stomach where she had bumped him, his grin widening with lecherous amusement.
Yumi flinched, folding her arms across her chest in a futile shield.
Iryoku chuckled, licking his lips.
“You can bump into me anytime you want… shorty.”
Yumi shrank back.
Alessandra’s trembling eyes suddenly burned with fire. Her steps grew heavy as she strode forward, planting herself between them, arms crossed.
“Hey, delinquent. Time for class. Move.”
She poured every ounce of steel into her voice, refusing to flinch. They stood nearly eye to eye—he was only a couple of centimeters taller.
For an instant, Iryoku’s face twisted—raw, unhinged rage flashing across it. But just as quickly, he smoothed it away with a smirk.
“Whatever.”
He turned, hands shoved in his pockets, strolling off like he owned the hall.
Alessandra’s voice cut after him, sharper this time.
“I said go. To class!”
Iryoku glanced back, defiance flashing in his eyes. He spat on the ground.
“Make me.”
And without breaking stride, he kept walking.
Alessandra exhaled hard, then turned to Yumi.
“You okay?”
Yumi steadied her breath and nodded. “Wow… you drove him away, sensei. You’re really strong.”
Alessandra forced a smile at her student’s innocent awe, flexing her arm in a playful show of strength.
“That’s why I keep telling you—put more effort into your exercises. One day, you’ll be strong enough to send guys like him running yourself.”
That night, Alessandra sat alone in her apartment, the TV murmuring faintly in the background. Her eyes drifted to the rough clay figurine by the screen. After a pause, she leaned forward and picked it up, tracing her fingers over its uneven surface. It resembled a small man in black, frozen in a crude fighting pose, clearly made by a child. She lay back on the floor, holding it up and turning it over in her hands.
A gentle smile touched her lips, even as tears shimmered in her eyes. She didn’t bother wiping them away.
She stood and went to the TV, turning on her old console. She hooked up two controllers, taking one for herself while the other sat beside her, the small clay figure positioned right next to it. She played for a few minutes, hands moving almost on instinct, the familiar sounds and motions pulling her back to another time.
After a while, her cellphone rang. She answered, her smile softening further.
“Hi, Mom… yes, I’m fine… How’s Dad?...”