11:20 a.m., Taimadou Academy, Class 1-A, homeroom
Ayako finished collecting the rest of the forms, while occasionally walking slower in-between with a myriad of things on her mind. She then stood in front of the class, at the center of the class width.
"Well then, shall I tell you a bit about myself?"
She spoke as if she has mentioned this before. It sounded like a monologue, or perhaps a written self-biography.
"I am currently a third-year student at Taimadou Academy, your senior."
There were a lot of murmurs among the students. It seemed odd that a student would be their homeroom teacher.
"On that note, I am definitely qualified. So don't worry about that aspect. If not, I wouldn't be standing here right now."
Ayako laughed to herself. The students, except for a given few, did not find this amusing, however.
Ayako, noticing the reaction, also displayed a serious front.
"I am a student, but I have a high school teaching diploma."
"…"
The class was shocked. Simply put, it should be illogical. How did a person attain a teaching diploma but has not completed the education for the teaching degree? Was Ayako a genius?
"As you all are not convinced, I'll display my diploma on the projection."
Ayako moved to her left and stood right by the classroom door. The projection flickered and showed a piece of paper: Ayako's diploma. The key point to note was that the name of the person to whom the diploma had been given was blurred.
"The addressee for the diploma is blurred, for obvious reasons. But you should accept that this is my diploma. As I've proved my competence, I'd rather not go into more details. If you have any complaints, please direct them towards the principal."
Some students were enraged by this utter idiocrasy. Their supposed teacher who looked like a high school student, and apparently was a third year, said she has a diploma, showed it but with the owner's name blurred, and decided to not answer any more questions. However, they did not dare question her as she stated that any complaints should not be directed toward her.
At this point in time, what were Akane and Rin thinking?
Akane was looking out of the window. Her seat was the farthest from the classroom door. Her facial expression was not visible.
Rin, meanwhile, was looking intently at the projection. He had noticed something interesting. '17 August 2XXX' was the date the diploma had been issued. It was on the bottom-right stamp.
'That means that she got her diploma 5 years ago… Just how old is she?'
Rin had considered the most extreme case possible, which was that she had Werner syndrome, but decided that the odds were too low for that. Instead, he had thought of another alternative.
'So that means she got her diploma while she was a middle school student… Wow. I guess I'll ask her age later.'
Little did Rin know; he was about to make a mistake.
If someone were to follow Rin's line of thought, they would have been confused. Why did Rin not consider that she did not have a teaching diploma? Well, Rin did, for a split second, but he then called himself an idiot and dropped that thought.
There is no possibility that Taimadou would allow a person without a diploma to be teaching staff.
Ayako proceeded to explain some additional information and afterward, finished the class.