12 [Chapter:12][Playing with the main cast is pretty fun.]

"Well, you were good, better than most of the so-called 'champions' in fact."

I look at the disappointed Saya and smiled.

"Guess you're a genius after all."

"But I still lost…"

I chuckled at that.

"Just means I'm better than you at chess. You're not the only genius in the world, you know? Besides, I probably spent more time playing chess than you lived since you came to know of the game."

Far, far longer, in fact.

Saya didn't seem convinced, so she looked me straight in the eyes and demanded,

"Another game."

I gave a bright smile.

"I refuse."

"Wh-wha!?"

"The one thing I, Grace, like more than anything else, is finding people who think they're hot shit and saying 'no' straight to their faces."

"B-but I'm not Josuke!"

I looked at her with a raised brow.

"Oh? You recognise that?"

Saya realised her folly and stuttered.

"I-I mean! It's not like that!"

"Haha, what's wrong with reading JoJo? I always wanted to say that."

"And besides…"

I look at the trio of Takashi, Rei, and Hisashi, who looked stunned from Saya's loss and confused by our following discussion, and asked,

"I haven't seen you eat your lunch yet? And there's like…", I glance at my wristwatch, "Five, six minutes tops."

"Ahh! We forgot!"

They quickly began to open their boxes and shoved their food down their throats, including Saya who seemed to have just realised it, making me chuckle.

"Careful now, don't choke."

Just as I said it, Hisashi began to cough, making me sigh as I flashed away towards some random store and snatched a bottle of water before flashing back to the school, all before any of them could even realise I moved.

"Here."

I threw the bottle towards him, who quickly caught it and opened it before gulping down the water in between coughs, while the other three looked at him slightly worried.

"*cough* *cough* Thanks, sensei."

"You're welcome. But don't you have water bottles with you?"

The three froze before they shouted at the same time almost like they rehearsed it,

"Ah! We forgot them on the roof top!"

I could only shake my head and wonder why the anime and manga full of fan service suddenly became a cheap comedy.

((Probably Author-san's poor attempt at trying to justify a comedy tag in the book.))

I ignored Dea-chan who's been breaking the fourth wall like she's got something against it since she learnt of it and looked at them.

"…I'm actually surprised. You managed to finish your lunch in less than three minutes."

*RIIIIIIIIIINGGGGGG*

"And just in time too."

"Shit! We're gonna be late!"

"Come on! Let's go!"

"Take care sensei!"

"I'll have my rematch later!"

"Really, Hisashi is the only polite one. I guess I'll help him out with Takashi."

I smirk at the thought before chuckling lightly.

"Now then…!"

Getting up, and seeing as how I have around another hour before my class begins, I disappear from the room and reappeared on the telescope.

"Nap time…!"

I think I might have gotten addicted to this.

"Me too."

I and Dea-chan take another nap as I set my instincts to ring in forty minutes.

. . . . . .

"…"

"…"

"Hey there."

"What are you doing here, again?"

I smiled at Saya who found me on the roof again, around ten minutes before I would have gotten up myself.

"Taking a nap?"

"Again?"

"Yup."

"…"

I chuckled at he blank stare she gave me.

"But the more important question is, what are you doing here, Takagi?", I asked her the same question I did last time, making her roll her eyes.

"The Principal asked me to call the new teacher named 'Grace', the handsome guy with white hair."

"Oh, it's time already?"

I guess he wants me to go early? Maybe it's a tradition in Japanese schools…don't know, never went to one.

"Let's go then…!"

"He-hey! Careful!"

I jumped off the telescope, falling down several feet in Saya's panicked eyes, and landed perfectly on my feet.

"Worried about your teacher? I'm touched, Takagi."

"Ugh! Whatever!"

The Tsundere turned away and huffed, making me chuckle.

"Well, lead the way then. The class I teach is in the auditorium by the way."

"The auditorium…? Wait, you're the reason we were told to cut our club time short by an hour?"

"Yup~~!"

I nodded cheerfully, making her look at me curiously.

"What are you going to teach anyway?"

"Now now, why spoil the surprise Takagi?"

She pouted at her question being ignored, rather cutely might I add, though I'm pretty sure if I'm not a teacher, she would have started shouting.

Being a teacher and beating her in chess probably made her a little less volatile.

. . . . . .

The school really is pretty big if you walk in a more 'human' level of speed, I realised, as I and Saya made our way to the auditorium.

On the way there, we managed to bump into Irene and Tsunade who were chatting.

"Yo, how's your day been?"

"Hm? Ah, Grace-san."

"Grace-san, are you going to your class? All the students seem to be gathering in the auditorium."

"Yup."

Saya liked at the three of us as she asked,

"You know Irene-sensei? And you are…?"

"Me? I'm Tsunade, you're new school nurse. You must be Saya Takagi, the self-proclaimed genius."

Saya frowned at that.

"Why am I always getting called that?", she grumbled, probably not shouting since she's in the presence of two teachers and another who's on the same level as a teacher despite not teaching anything.

"Ahaha, don't mind these two. They just like teasing people."

""Says the sadist."", I and Tsunade quip back almost instantly before giving each other a high five, making Irene twitch her lips.

"…"

"Sadist…?", Saya mumbled softly as she tried to connect her new teacher who looked quite gentle to the word, not knowing the three could hear her just fine.

"As for us knowing each other…", I say diverting the topic.

"We live in the same apartment, along with some others. You might even know some of the Group members."

"?"

She looked at us with question marks clearly visible on her face, probably not understanding what I meant by 'Group members'.

I didn't bother explaining, as we had reached the auditorium.

. . . . . .

"Hmm…that's quite a lot of people."

"What, getting nervous?"

I looked at Kaguya who asked me with a teasing voice, and chuckled.

"Me? Nervous? Ha!"

I couldn't help but laugh. If I had stage fear, I'd never have gotten to where I had…

Shaking my head, I stop thinking of my past. I had already put it past me. Just remember the lessons you learned and learn from the many, many mistakes you learned, and that's enough, Grace.

With a soft chuckle, I walk onto the stage.

"Hey there boys and girls. I'm your new teacher, and the reason why you're missing your club time, but blame the principal if you want to curse someone. He's the one who gave me the job."

I smile at the laughs I managed to make. A joke always makes things better, unless it's a funeral.

Actually, all the funerals I've been to, I made one or two of my sick jokes, but that's probably why practically half my previous world wanted me dead…

"Now then, you all must be wondering why your here? Well, we've only got an hour so let me not waste your time."

I clapped my hands as I continued,

"To put it simply, I'm here to teach you how to survive. Not like Bear Grylls, mind you. No amount of salary is gonna make me eat bugs on stage."

"No, I'm going to teach you all how to survive when you exit this nice and comfortable protective shell you're in that you call 'childhood'."

"Some of you, or rather, most of you, probably consider childhood as a cage, with all the restrictions , with your parents telling you what to do and what not to do, not being able to drink or smoke, blah blah blah. It's irritating isn't it? Trust me, I know. I've been there myself, after all."

"And you're right. Your 'childhood' is indeed a cage. But it isn't just a cage that keeps you locked in, it's also a cage that keeps you from the various evils outside."

"I'm sure most of you have seen movies or tv shows or read novels that depict how cruel society can be. It's not all flowers out there after all. People can be cruel, very, very cruel. And I'm not talking about beating you up or bullying you. No, one doesn't need to get physical to show their cruelty."

"But enough of that. Im not here to give you nightmares or scare you. Im here to teach you how you can live on your own without relying on anyone once you go into society. To prepare you so you don't get caught off guard by the things you'll experience."

"Let's star with simple things, one of the most simple ones in fact. Food."

I pause as I look at the hundreds of students looking at me intently. Luckily, the auditorium had enough seats for them all, so they didn't have to stand for an hour straight. And there was air conditioning too.

Anime schools be blessed. I'm so envious.

"How many of you have your breakfasts, lunches, dinners, afternoon snacks, and midnight snacks made by your parents? Or servants, if you're rich boys and young ladies? Come on, don't be shy, raise your hands. Be honest!"

It started off with one brave soul, then two, then ten, and in seconds,

"Wow, I consider my eyesight pretty good and I can barely see one…two…three people! Can I ask you to stand up please? And the rest, hands down. There we go."

Looking at the three people, as I had expected, they were Hisashi, Kohta Hirano, and Saeko Busujima.

"Hisashi! We met so soon again. Tell me, who made that splendid bento you wolfed down in less than three minutes? I might try some if you have seconds."

"Uh, I made it myself, Sensei. My parents aren't home much often, so I'm used to cooking for myself."

"What a coincidence, I like to cook too. Maybe we can take notes someday. Sit down, bud."

I looked at the other one.

"So, Kohta Hirano right? I took some time remembering most of you here. Where do you get your meals from? Cause clearly they must be quite delicious."

A few laugh as Kohta blushes lightly.

"I…make them myself. My parents are usually overseas most of the time, and I only get to see them once or twice a month. I buy my snacks in the canteen, but make my meals on my own."

"Well what do you know! Looks like you're quite the little man, aren't you?", I gesture him to sit with a laugh, and he seemed happy with the praise.

I didn't really praise him, but whatever makes him sleep at night I guess…

"And what about you, young lady?"

The purple haired young lady in question opens her mouth and speaks,

"My father is usually busy with the dojo, and my mother hasn't been around for a few years now, so I take care of most of the house work."

There were a couple cheers that could be heard when she said that. Guess the the perfect onee-san's got herself a fan club huh? Lots of things that I wouldn't know about if I hadn't come here.

Did I mention how much I love you for giving me this second chance, Dea-chan?

((More times that I could care to count.))

'And you blush every single time don't you, my cute little loli?'

((Sh-shut up!))

I look at Saeko and smiled.

"What a responsible young lady, I'd want to marry you if that wouldn't get me kicked out of my job and possibly a visit by folks in blue. Take a seat young lady."

She nodded with a smile, while there were a few bouts of laughters and a few of the purer girls blushed.

"Now then! You've seen it yourself, three of your classmates who cook for themselves. How many of you can confidentially say you can make your own breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and those afternoon and midnight snacks? Or even just buy the ingredients without being handed a list by your parents, for that matter?"

The few laughs suddenly quieten down.

"Really guys? Girls?"

I look around, finding the venue almost completely silent.

"Wow, now I just need a few crickets."

"Well, I kind of expected this. Maybe a few more than just three people who know how to cook, but still! This is why I have my job anyway."

I clapped my hands as I smiled at them.

"There are lots of things you all need to know to survive, and that's why I'm given a whole three months. But since today's the first day, why don't we start small?"

I snapped my fingers, making the projector light up as a few words appear behind me on the screen.

"In today's and the first day of 'Survival in Society', I'm gonna teach you all how to cook without burning your houses down."

Man, I'm already starting to enjoy teaching. Maybe I'll open a hero class back in OPM?