Once the class was over I walked with Sotoka to the staffroom, so she could apologize to our teacher.

“That was mean of you, Eriko. You really surprised me there!”

“Well, it wasn't an easy job. Hahaha~”

Indeed, it wasn't easy. I almost had no sleep to prepare that joke, but I think it was worth it. The face that Sotoka had and the scream she gave were unforgettable.

As we were chit chatting on our way to the staff room we saw a teacher trying to carry four coolers to the staff room. She had red dyed hair with black roots and tan marks were visible due to the wide collar of her shirt. The teacher was wearing very sporty clothes and she also had a pair of sunglasses on the top of her head. She was clearly of the happy and impulsive type. Along with her was the mysterious girl that we saw yesterday, carrying three more coolers.

“Oi girls, come here!”

“...?”

“Uh…”

There was no one else nearby, but being called out of nowhere for someone who doesn't even look like a teacher and is carrying that insane amount of coolers, is extremely weird. So Stotka and I stood frozen in place looking at each other while trying to guess if she truly called us.

“Come on, girls. Help me a little bit, please~”

“A-are you talking to us?”

“Yeah, yeah I'm talking to the cute pair, come here.”

Sotoka blushed at the sporty girl’s words. But since she probably was a teacher, and she was in fact calling for our help, we had no other choice but help her. But there was something I wanted to say first.

“We’ve never seen you around here. And since you are asking for our help, I think you should at least tell us your name.”

“What a sharp tongue for a girl. Haha~”

The girl simply laughed at my question as she handed one cooler to Sotoka and another one to me. She noticed the expression on my face and decided to introduce herself and the girl that was helping her.

“I'm Sapphire, and I’m in fact a teacher, but I'm just coming back from a business trip, that might be why you haven't seen me before. The girl that's with me is Kasumi, she is a member from the club I'm handling.”

Sapphire? But she had red hair… Isn't it normal for characters to have a name that resembles their physical characteristics or personality traits? Of course, this wasn’t the right time to question myself about that kind of stuff, because Sapphire was looking at us with inquisitive eyes.

“Oh, right, sorry. The girl with me is Sotoka and I’m Eriko, we are childhood friends.”

“I know you, girls! I saw you outside of Iris’ store! What a coincidence!”

“Yeah, you are right. Haha~”

It seems that, just as Sotoka, Kasumi is also an airhead. Why, you asked? It's quite simple, since we live in the countryside, there aren't a lot of stores over here. So, if we want some candies or ice cream, there aren't a lot of places to choose where to buy them.

You might be thinking that I’m being too rude to the poor girl. But while Sotoka and Kasumi were laughing at the fact that we had seen each other yesterday was a weird coincidence, I was able to see, deep inside Sapphire eyes, that she was thinking the same as me.

“Are you in any club activities, girls?”

“Oh no. We just stay in the classroom reading and talking until it is almost sunset. Fufufu~”

The brainless Sotoka answered proudly and without caution. Thas right, even if Sapphire didn't look like a teacher, she is in fact a teacher. Saying something like that, out of the blue, is almost like admitting a crime.

“Oh, I see.”

I was able to see a big and unsettling smirk on Sapphire’s face. Her eyes were wide open and almost shining. We are on her claws now.

“Want to take a look at my club later?”

Yes, we are fried. There's no way out of this, so we ended up agreeing with that offer and said our goodbyes until we finished carrying those coolers to the staffroom.