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Chapter 346: Valedictorian Speech?
🕑 Added 2025-08-10 18:34:16 +0000 UTCWhen the main characters arrived, the grade supervisor immediately greeted them with a beaming smile.
"Ichin-kun, Kasumigaoka-san, you probably haven’t checked your scores yet, have you? Although you’ve both already been accepted into the University of Tokyo, since you still took the exam, the results matter. We received your scores first thing this morning."
As he spoke, he handed over their score reports.
Ichin glanced at his—just about what he expected based on the post-exam self-grading.
Utaha looked at hers—only two points behind Ichin’s. But in the rankings, the two of them were placed first and second among all candidates.
Was this something to be proud of?
Utaha thought about it carefully. Maybe not. They had expected to achieve these scores and rankings from the beginning. Now it was just officially confirmed.
The principal looked at them with genuine delight.
"You two did exceptionally well—this is the best result we’ve had in Toyogasaki’s history. So, Ichin-kun, Kasumigaoka-san, for the graduation ceremony, I’d like both of you to represent the graduating class with a speech. You’ll also be giving some words of encouragement and blessings to your juniors in the second and third years. Is that alright?"
Ichin and Utaha exchanged glances. Utaha immediately said,
"Principal, I think just one person giving the speech is enough. Let Ichin do it—he’s better at these things than I am."
"..."
Ichin’s mouth twitched. Wow, she threw me under the bus without hesitation... Just wait till we get home.
But since graduation was near anyway, Ichin didn’t mind taking it on.
"Sure, I can give the graduation speech. Should I write the draft ahead of time for the teachers to review?"
The grade supervisor replied,
"Yes, once you’ve written it, just let Hiratsuka-sensei take a look. Her command of classical Japanese is impeccable."
Ichin nodded.
"Got it. I’ll prepare it."
After a few more compliments from the principal, he and the supervisor left the room.
Once the office door closed, Hiratsuka Shizuka let out a relaxed smile and patted Ichin’s shoulder.
"You really are something, kid. First place—right at the top. And Kasumigaoka did great too, only two points behind. The other high schools in Tokyo will be so jealous."
The other teachers in the room all wore satisfied smiles.
Toyogasaki had always had a decent college acceptance rate, but there were stronger schools in Tokyo. This time, however, the top two scorers came from their school. Even if the overall average was slightly behind, that alone was enough to make the teachers proud for quite a while.
"Here, a reward."
Hiratsuka handed Ichin and Utaha each a pack of chocolates.
Looking at the chocolates, Ichin raised a brow and teased,
"Hiratsuka-sensei, it's not even Valentine's Day yet, and you’ve already gotten chocolates? That’s major progress!"
Pffffft! Cough cough cough!
Before he could finish laughing, Hiratsuka hit him square in the stomach with a punch. Thankfully, she hadn’t used full force—otherwise, he’d be on the floor.
Though Ichin was a treasured student in the eyes of the faculty, Hiratsuka certainly wasn’t one to go easy on him. Clenching her fist, she scolded,
"You're getting bold, huh? Teasing your teacher now? These are from a points reward I got while shopping at the arcade mall. Just say whether you want them or not!"
"Of course I do! Otherwise, wouldn’t the punch have been for nothing?"
Rubbing his stomach, Ichin accepted the chocolates—turns out they weren’t cheap, either.
Without opening them just yet, he looked at her and asked,
"But seriously, Hiratsuka-sensei, this year’s Valentine’s Day—are you planning to go to another mixer? Or did your family set up a blind date again?"
Since both Ichin and Utaha were already admitted to college, their tone around the teachers had become more relaxed. When it came to Valentine's Day, the other teachers naturally joined in the chat.
"Mixers, huh? Seems like there’ll be one this year too. You going, Hiratsuka-sensei? I’ll probably attend—at the very least, it’s a free meal."
"Yeah, and I heard other schools hired a few handsome new male teachers this year."
"Cougar alert?"
"Hey, don’t be rude! I’m only 27—I’m not that old!"
No doubt about it—there were still quite a few single teachers in the group.
After some thought, Hiratsuka replied,
"Mm, no blind dates set up by my family this year. As for mixers, I probably won’t go either. I’ve gone to too many, and it’s getting dull. What about you, Ichin? Spending Valentine’s Day with Kasumigaoka, I assume?"
Ichin nodded.
"That’s the current plan. But if you don’t have anything else going on, Kō and the others are planning to hold a party at the dorm. You could join—it’d be more fun with everyone."
"Oh! That sounds good!"
Although Hiratsuka was confident in her drinking abilities, she always kept her guard up at mixers. But if it was with Yagami and the other girls, then she could probably let loose and enjoy herself.
"I’ll ask Kō and the others. If there’s booze, I’m in!"
After chatting a bit more and hearing some faculty gossip, Ichin and Utaha left the office and returned to their classroom.
With graduation approaching, the third years didn’t have many classes left. Most came to school for final graduation procedures or to wrap up their three years of club activities.
As soon as they walked in, Ichin and Utaha heard their classmates discussing their Center Exam scores and the results of various university entrance exams.
Setting aside the chocolate from Hiratsuka-sensei, the two naturally joined the conversation, curious about how their classmates had done.
After listening around, it seemed that everyone had performed reasonably well—at least no one had crashed and burned.
When the bell rang, Hiratsuka Shizuka entered the classroom—but this time, she wasn’t holding any textbooks. She walked in empty-handed.
Looking at the students, she smiled sentimentally. It was almost graduation time again. These kids would soon be leaving Toyogasaki and heading to their respective universities.
Clapping her hands, she said,
"Even though there’s no class, there are still things you need to take care of. The school will be organizing graduation photo shoots soon. Today’s weather is a bit iffy, so we won’t do it today. But if tomorrow’s weather is good, it’ll be our turn—so don’t skip school or leave early. Especially you, Ichin. Stay on campus until at least 4 PM tomorrow, got it?"
Ichin hadn’t expected to be singled out, but he waved casually.
No big deal. His company meeting was scheduled for today—tomorrow he’d be completely free.
***
