Walking through the hallway, you were startled by the noise of boxes falling over nearby, followed by the obnoxious cackling from your female classmates. You looked over to see your homeroom teacher stopping in his tracks to pick up the boxes, ignoring their taunts.

Kunikuzushi was always the butt of the joke among his own students. He had been insulted, pranked and degraded. Nonetheless, he remained firm, unwilling to show that he was affected by their bullying since he was the adult.

No one ever paid attention in his class, either talking to each other, sleeping or throwing paper balls at his head. He became tired of trying to discipline all of them at once, but you were the only student who respected his authority, even if he treated you with the same indifference as the others.

You hurried over and helped him with picking up the fallen boxes, but he stopped you with a sharp look from his tired indigo eyes. After rearranging them, he turned to you with an expression that revealed his distrust and skepticism.

“Do you think I'm pitiful?”